A spokesperson for the East Netherlands police said this in writing on Wednesday in response to questions from de Volkskrant. It is the first, concise response from the police to the intimidations that took place last weekend around the Sinterklaas arrival in the Overijssel village.
The police want the image that many police officers have been watching at the exit of the A28 near Staphorst while cars were attacked ‘partially refuted’, according to a spokesman. “Near the exit where things got out of hand, there was a police van with six officers,” he writes. As soon as the three cars were attacked, they would have immediately requested reinforcements from the Mobile Unit (ME). But the riot police ‘was quite hampered along the way by various blockages from tractors, for example’, he continues. ‘Crow’s feet were even found at one location.’
‘Prevent escalation’
As a result, the ME was ‘only a little later at the bottom of the exit, where the rioters immediately cooperated after an initial claim’. The six officers in the van estimated that the attacked persons were safest in their vehicle, the spokesperson said. ‘They also received this instruction from their control room.’ Intervening with six men against such a crowd could also have ‘only led to further escalation and risks for the people under attack’, according to the spokesman. Unnecessary, because the ME was already on its way.
At the exit of the A28, according to witnesses, the first rioters from Staphorst were already waiting for the KOZP demonstrators at 11:00 am. At around 1:30 p.m., the three cars were stopped, egg-pelted, and shaken.
The other police officers were deployed in various places in Staphorst at that time, including on the Market Square, where the arrival of Sinterklaas would take place at 2 p.m. and where a demonstration section for KOZP had been set up. Some riot police officers rode with the column of KOZP demonstrators that came from Zwolle. The cars that ended up at the exit of the A28 had lost the column en route and therefore drove to Staphorst without police escort.
‘The right considerations’
When asked why only six officers were present at the exit, the police did not answer on Wednesday. She does say that she wonders whether ‘the right considerations were made when things went wrong’. We also ‘sincerely regret’ that a fundamental right of the KOZP activists was violated on Saturday because their demonstration could not take place.
According to the spokesperson, “the police have worked to the best of their knowledge.” ‘And we understand very well the question why no arrests have been made. After all, criminal offenses have been committed. I hope that with the above explanation we have been able to share some of the dilemmas therein.’
In total, two hundred police officers were on hand on Saturday to supervise the KOZP demonstration in Staphorst. According to the police, 150 officers are usually deployed for a high-risk football match. On Saturday, the Public Prosecution Service started an investigation. Thursday evening will be at the RTV-Oost program A closer look the first images of vandals can be seen.