Three activists who were detained by police on Saturday in Appingedam were released from police custody on Sunday morning.
Translation by Traci White
Dagblad van het Noorden writes that the three individuals, who were staying at a protest camp in the Groningen town of Leermens organised by anti-fossil fuel activist group Code Rood, were detained because the police suspected them of stealing a bike.
According to the police, the people in question declined to show their identification and began behaving belligerently, and then the police took them into custody. A subsequent investigation determined that no bike had been stolen and the three individuals were returned to the protest camp on Sunday morning.
Police presence
In response to the arrests, OOG TV published a statement from Code Rood on Sunday asking the police to stop checking the I.D.s of the activists at the camp. The activists pointed out that citizens have the right decline to show their identification to the police.
A number of activists staying at the camp told Dagblad van het Noorden that there has been a pronounced police presence in the area, but there have not been any issues reported at the camp thus far. Around 400 men and women of all ages have been camping out at the site, which has a large outdoor cooking space and various musical performances, since Friday.
Protests
Hundreds of activists set up the camp on Friday in preparation for a number of protest activities next week, including a blockade at a NAM tank farm in Farmsum and a march through Delfzijl. The blockade at the NAM facility, which processes condensation produced in the gas extraction process, is scheduled to last until at least the 31st of August. People from across the Netherlands and France, Germany and Belgium, among others, are planning to join the occupation, some travelling by bike to the northern province.
Photo source: Sigrid Stuut, designed for Milieudefensie