Farmers action group the Farmers Defense Force (FDF) has cancelled all protests for Wednesday. The group took the decision after the court imposed a penalty of 100,000 euros for each distribution centre, were they to be blocked by farmers, and which could jeopardise food supply.
In a statement on the internal Facebook group of FDF, the affiliated farmers are asked to refrain from campaigns at supermarkets and distribution centers. The action group also announced that they would appeal against the decision of the court in Lelystad. They suggested that they have been silenced because they are not allowed to make further statements in the press about the verdict.
The pressure group had already announced last week that they were preparing a major plan of political action. It had seemed that they wanted to campaign at food distribution centers, blocking food from being distributed around the country, to draw attention to the farmer’s importance in the Dutch food supply chain.
The FDF informed the court that they do not want to block those centers, but that a dynamic action was being prepared that could possibly cause a nuisance.
It is not known how long it will take before a judgment can be given for any possible appeal.