The police are investigating footage showing police violence following a pro-Palestinian protest in Amsterdam on Wednesday night.
NOS reported that footage circulating on social media shows riot police shouting at released protesters and beating them with batons shortly after they were thrown out of a bus on the outskirts of Amsterdam. The police have said in a statement that the exact reason for the violence is being investigated.
Earlier that evening, a group of hundreds of demonstrators had come to Dam Square despite an emergency ordinance in force in the city since the outbreak of violence surrounding the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv match. This means that demonstrations can be banned at certain locations. Demonstrators were allowed to demonstrate in Westerpark yesterday, but not in Dam Square. The police then intervened and put an end to the demonstration, arresting 281 people. Most of them refused to comply with the call to leave.
According to the police, some demonstrators vandalised the buses.
The police previously announced that they were investigating possible police violence at the banned pro-Palestinian demonstration on Dam Square on Sunday.
In 2022, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture condemned Dutch police for their violent handling of protestors demonstrating against safety measures related to the coronavirus pandemic. He described footage of the police violence as “one of the most disgusting scenes of police brutality [he had] seen since George Floyd”.
In Groningen, videos taken of pro-Palestine protests in June showed police delivering blows to protestors with batons and using dogs to suppress the crowds. Local media cited one of the demonstrators saying they were violently evicted and that one of them was taken away unconscious.
