The images of the climate action in the Dutch museum last week went around the world. After climate activists had previously thrown tomato soup over a painting by Vincent van Gogh and mashed potatoes over a Claude Monet, activists struck on Thursday in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. One stuck his head to the – glazed and therefore undamaged – painting, another showered the first with soup and stuck his hand to the back panel, a third filmed.
It soon became apparent that the three involved had Belgian nationality. It concerns a 42-year-old man and two 45-year-old men. One of them – the main poster – is a well-known Belgian climate activist: Wouter Mouton, who previously held several striking climate campaigns in our country. He has also attracted attention with campaigns during the Tour of Flanders and the final of the Belgian Cup.
The two suspects who will appear in court on Wednesday are Mouton and the man who filmed the action. “They are suspected of destruction and open violence against the painting ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’, committed in association,” the Dutch Public Prosecution Service said in a statement on Monday.
“With quick trial, a suspect is in court within seventeen days, with super quick trial within three to six days,” the Dutch government explains about the system. “Expedited justice and super-fast justice are part of the tit-for-tat policy of the Dutch police and the judiciary. They handle criminal cases as quickly as possible.” Fast-track or super-fast-track law is only applied to cases that are fairly easy to prove.
The third suspect, who threw soup over Wouter Mouton and glued his hand to the back panel himself, did not agree to his case being handled by the superfast judge. He will be arraigned tomorrow before the examining magistrate, comparable to the council chamber in Belgium. He will decide what will happen to him next.
The painting ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ has therefore not been damaged by the climate action, because it is protected behind glass. The list was damaged. The work of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer from 1665 was placed back in the room of the Mauritshuis on Friday afternoon.
Also see: Environmentalists throw tomato soup over Van Gogh
Also see: Climate activists throw mashed potatoes at Monet