NEWS CENTER – Environmental movement Extinction Rebellion blocked a major road in Den Hag to protest subsidies for fossil fuels. Police used TOMA to disperse the protesters. “A total of 1579 people were detained, 40 of them were investigated,” the police said in a statement.
The blocked road is located very close to the parliament and main ministries.
According to the Dutch press agency ANP, this latest act was Extinction Rebellion’s seventh act at the same spot. But never before had so many people been detained. According to the same source, around 700 activists were detained in a similar action on 11 March.
The environmental movement stated that about 7,000 people participated in the action. Some of the activists, who predicted that the police would use water cannon, participated in the action in swimsuits and danced under water. Many Dutch celebrities also participated in the actions organized by Extinction Rebellion on the Den Haag road.
On Saturday, 46-year-old actress Carice Van Houten, best known for her role as Melisandre in the TV series “Game of Thrones”, took her place among the activists.
According to ANP’s report, the actress was also detained, but was released in the evening.
“We come every month or two, and our numbers double every time,” said Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Aaron Pereira. “There is broad public support for real action for the climate, and people are realizing that the government is actively opposing it by subsidizing the fossil fuel industry,” Pereira added. He noted that it was a legitimate form of protest accepted by the Court of Human Rights.
