Confused Netherlands: Police intervened in action by environmentalists

Approximately 3,000 people, together with the organization of the group called “Extinction Rebellion”, closed the last section of the A12, which is the entrance to the city, causing the interruption of traffic on the connecting routes.

The protesters, who demanded an end to the use of oil, coal and gas, criticized the government’s fossil fuel policy.

The protesters, holding banners reading “Plant a tree, stop the fossil” and “There is no planet B”, held a sit-in on the road for a long time.

Clashes broke out between security forces and activists.

The police, who warned that the place where the action was taking place had been declared a prohibited zone for the demonstration, began to interfere with the activists 5 hours after the protest began.

Police, who sprayed protesters with water cannons, detained those who did not leave the road and its surroundings despite warnings, and took them out of the area with public buses.

During the action, the police knocked down some protesters who were climbing over the tree branches, the roadside wall and the lamppost.

The police also separated some of the activists, who fell in love with the tree, from the tree with iron cutting machines.

The Extinction Rebellion group shared on Twitter that at least 683 people were detained.

Local media reported that two buses collided with detained protesters. In the news, which said the bus windows were broken, no information was shared on whether there were any injuries.

The Extinction Rebellion group, which closed the last section of the A12 highway at the entrance to the city of The Hague 5 times, took action by closing the same road on January 28 and hundreds of people were arrested. (AA)