ZoDalek
ZoDalek t1_j6cz1lb wrote
Reply to comment by v052020 in Hundreds of climate activists were arrested in The Hague after blocking the A12 highway in both ways on Saturday afternoon in protest at government subsidies for fossil fuels such as oil and gas by DoremusJessup
> Yes you can demonstrate if approved.
You can protest full stop. There is no approval process, despite some local governments trying to turn the registration requirement into a de facto permit system.
The government may impose restrictions for a handful of reasons, but only ever the least possible to alleviate them.
This blockade may have been unlawful (that’s really up for a judge to decide if it comes to that) but you can’t turn protest law upside down like this.
> Blocking a high road is stupid and dangerous.
It’s done all the time for road works, sporting events, etc. Traffic is rerouted. No one gets hurt.
ZoDalek t1_j6cxeq3 wrote
Reply to comment by arthoer in Hundreds of climate activists were arrested in The Hague after blocking the A12 highway in both ways on Saturday afternoon in protest at government subsidies for fossil fuels such as oil and gas by DoremusJessup
> Blocking that specific road is dangerous as fuck.
It’s not. Police (and traffic lights) reroute traffic so the protestors can enter safely. There are plenty of other routes available. This isn’t much different from similar road closures like sports events, like this very road for the CPC run.
> We have plenty of ways of protesting in a sensible manner. > ... > Greenpeace, oxfam novib and many others think the same
Greenpeace was blocking a private jet platform just a few months ago and people were similarly going on the “it’s not safe! go to the proper place!” angle.
But when back in 2019 Greenpace had a protest at Schiphol Plaza (a lawful place to protest) the municipality tried to forbid it anyway and sent in the military police. Afterwards of course the judge overturned the ban, the emergency order (to clear the protest), and the clearing of the protest in itself.
> Malieveld; which is a designated default terrain
This is simply not how the law works, protests are not a favour to be granted at a specific place. Instead, the starting point is the protestor’s choice where and how to protest and that the government must do their very best to facilitate this. Restrictions and bans can only be instituted for a handful of specific reasons and must a applied as sparingly as possible.
It was quite egregious that police tried to clear out the support protest on the viaduct. People there were standing peacefully in safe places and there were no lawful grounds (in the WOM) to evict them.
ZoDalek t1_j6cz9nq wrote
Reply to comment by koreamax in Hundreds of climate activists were arrested in The Hague after blocking the A12 highway in both ways on Saturday afternoon in protest at government subsidies for fossil fuels such as oil and gas by DoremusJessup
It’s subsidising fossil fuels by € 17,5 bn yearly, not meeting binding targets (like the Paris Accord) and ignoring court orders to protect their citizens from climate change (Urgenda), not to speak of other environmental issues like nitrogen (again that had to come to the high court).