At the beginning of November, the police and the judiciary intervened too hard during the anti-Zwarte Piet demonstration in the council chamber in Emmen. Due to this disproportionate action, the twelve demonstrators are not punished by the police judge in Assen.
Last November, mayor Eric van Oosterhout summoned the group of Extinction Rebellion demonstrators to leave. The group did not want to leave until Emmen promised to change the appearance of the Pieten during the Sinterklaas arrival. The demonstrators are therefore guilty of breaching local peace, the judge ruled.
“The limit of the permissible was sought. They sang, shouted slogans and made noise. Further meetings were not possible,” said the public prosecutor. The right to protest or demonstrate is enshrined in the constitution. “But you may not violate other laws and regulations. Those rights are not absolute,” said the prosecutor. “Public order was affected by their actions.”
Fines of 200 and 300 euros were demanded against eleven demonstrators. According to the prosecutor, a woman should be acquitted because it is not certain that she was present at the action in Emmen.
The judge thought otherwise. The demonstration was peaceful and could have sufficed with the removal of the demonstrators from the council chamber.
See below what the demonstration of Extinction Rebellion looked like last November in Emmen.