Police violence alleged in anti-Zwarte Piet activist's complaint
Anti-Zwarte Piet activist Jerry Afriyie filed abuse reports against a number of police offiers on Tuesday. According to the activists, the police use unnecessary violence while arresting him and nearly 200 others in Rotterdam on Sinterklaas' arrival day on November 12th, AD reports.
According to Afriyie, the police made many mistakes that day. But his complaints focus on the violence used when police officers pulled activists out of a city bus. When Afriyie was pulled out of the bus, he was also punched in the face and hit with clubs, he says in his complaints.
About 200 activists were arrested on November 12th. They were on their way to protest blackface makeup and Zwarte Piet at Sinterklaas' national arrival in Maassluis, but never made it further than Rotterdam. The police accuse them of violating a ban on demonstrations in Rotterdam.
Arfriyie is a well known anti-Zwarte Piet activist and this was not his first arrest in connectionn with his cause. He was arrested at Sinterklaas' national arrival in Dordrecht in 2011 for wearing a shirt reading "Zwarte Piet is Racism". He was one of 90 protesters arrested at the Saint's national arrival in Gouda in 2014. the court recently ruled that that arrest was unlawful.
