Extinction Rebellion announces a new blockade of A12 on March 11. That would be the sixth time. Last Saturday, climate activists also succeeded in blocking the stretch of highway next to the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The road was impassable for hours. 768 people were arrested, all of whom have since been released.
The climate activists would hold a bicycle blockade on the Afsluitdijk on March 11, but “because of the enormous momentum we will continue on the A12”, the club said. Extinction Rebellion says that the Netherlands annually grants 17.5 billion euros in subsidies for fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and gas. “We will keep coming back to the A12 until this stops.”
At previous blockades, the municipality of The Hague announced that Extinction Rebellion was allowed to demonstrate on the Malieveld next to the A12. The highway blockers were also instructed by the police on Saturday to go there. But on March 11, final preparations will be made there for the CPC Loop a day later. Tens of thousands of people participate in this running event, which starts and finishes on the Malieveld. According to the municipality, there is not much point in proposing an alternative place now.
,,We are not in consultation with the organizers, they have not registered anything now. Previous contacts between us and them were very sporadic, they do everything they can to avoid that. We had the Malieveld ready for them on Saturday, they could go about their business there, but they were not interested. If you can’t talk to people, you can’t come up with alternatives,” says a spokeswoman for mayor Jan van Zanen.
Sedition
In the run-up to the demonstration last Saturday, seven members of Extinction Rebellion were arrested for sedition. They were interrogated and subsequently released. The members called on Twitter and Facebook to block the highway en masse. According to the Public Prosecution Service, they are punishable because they encourage an illegal and dangerous action. They received an area ban, which prevented them from entering the Utrechtsebaan. At least one of them participated in the highway blockade anyway.
In the meantime, the last two demonstrators who were still detained have also been released, the police said. A total of 768 people were arrested on Saturday. Police said earlier that the last protesters would not reveal their identities. They were released on Sunday afternoon after sharing their identities, police said.
Watch the video of the demonstration last Saturday here…
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