Dutch PM lashes out at 'idiots' after third night of violence
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[November 22, 2021]
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch Prime
Minister Mark Rutte on Monday lashed out at "idiot" rioters who rampaged
through cities across the Netherlands this weekend when protests against
coronavirus policies turned violent.
More than 100 people were arrested during three nights of violence,
which saw police open fire at rioters in Rotterdam on Friday.
"This was pure violence disguised as protest," Rutte said in response to
the worst disturbances since a full lockdown led to widespread disorder
in January.
"There is a lot of unrest in society because we have been dealing with
the misery of corona for so long. But I will never accept idiots using
pure violence just because they are unhappy."
Around 30 people were arrested on Sunday, following dozens of arrests on
the previous two days, as mobs of angry youths set fires and threw
rocks.
Black-clad groups pelted police vans with stones, and in The Hague a
rock was thrown through the windshield of an ambulance trying to take a
patient to hospital.
Violence began in Rotterdam on Friday night, as a protest against
government plans to ban most people who have not been vaccinated from
public places quickly turned violent.
Although some lockdown measures were reimposed in the Netherlands on
Nov. 13, daily infections surged to their highest levels since the start
of the pandemic last week.
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A man stands with a flare as protesters watch a motorcycle burning
in Rotterdam, Netherlands November 20, 2021, in this screen grab
obtained from a social media video. Video recorded November 20,
2021. Sven Simcic - Video In Verzet via REUTERS
This has forced Dutch hospitals to scale back regular
care, and put pressure on the government to take even more measures
to ensure care remains available for all urgent cases.
"This weak approach won't prevent care from falling apart", the
Dutch association of healthcare workers, V&VN, said on Monday.
"The infection rate shows that the current measures hardly have any
effect."
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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