On Wednesday morning, three men were taken into police custody for involvement with threats made to business owners connected to the wind turbine parks in the north.
Translation by Traci White
The Groninger Internet Courant reports that the suspects in custody are a 61-year-old man from Tweede Exloërmond, a 58-year-old man from Meeden and a 50-year-old man from Nieuw Buinen, all of which are located near the planned parks.
According the police, it is not yet clear what role the three men played in the intimidation campaign. The police are continuing the investigation in Meeden, Nieuw-Buinen, Tweede Exloërmond, Oude Pekela, Groningen and Stadskanaal.
In recent years, multiple threats of violence and actual acts of sabotage of taken place in the region as individuals sought to thwart plans to build large wind turbine arrays in Groningen and Drenthe. Several businesses, contractors and government officials received letters threatening to harm them and their families if they did not cease their involvement with the plans. Two business owners withdrew as a result, and asbestos was dumped in several locations, namely Delfzijl, Meeden and Zuidbroek.
On Wednesday, the police also opened a pop-up station in the supermarket on the Hereweg in Meeden between noon and 8 p.m. to answer any questions from the public.
