Weapons sales fair opens in Amsterdam under human rights protest

The opening of a Weapon Sales Fair in the Rai in Amsterdam on Wednesday will be met by protests from action group Stop Wapenhandel (Stop Arms Trade in English). The fair runs from June 21st to 23rd, AT5 reports.

According to the protesters, the international fair will be attended by delegations from countries that violate human rights in Yemen - including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates - as well as companies that produce cluster munitions and nuclear weapons.

"On the presence of Saudi Arabia we asked parliamentary questions to the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs. There is after all a call from both the Dutch and European Parliament to stop delivering weapons to the Saudis", the group said to AT5.

"Also invited is Turkey, which is busy attacking its own Kurdish population with bombs. Like other participating countries, it also provided weapons for the war in Syria", the group continued. "Delegations from military regimes lie Thailand and countries in armed internal conflict are also on the guest list."

GroenLinks and SP support these protests, partly because Amsterdam holds a 25 percent share in the Rai.