Court bans noise protest at WWII commemoration

The court in Amsterdam banned a planned noise protest during the National Commemoration of World War II victims on Amsterdam's Dam Square on Friday, Remembrance Day.

Interim Amsterdam mayor Jozias van Aartsen also banned the noise protest by action group Geen 4 mei voor mij. Initiator Rogier Meijerink hoped that the court would overturn this ban. But the court ruled against him, RTL Nieuws reports.

The action group initially announced that they will make noise during the minutes of silence at 8:00 p.m. During the hearing, Meijerink said that they would not do that. Instead they'd sound a mobile air alarm two minutes before 8:00 p.m. The court also banned that.

Meijerink expects that the court ruling will not stop the protesters. He will be at Dam Square on Friday, and he expects that between 100 and 300 protesters will join him. "I am going to Dam Square, where we will start shouting at 8:00 p.m.", he said, according to the broadcaster. "We do this individually, and not in groups, so we are not a manifistation." He is not afraid of possible counter-actions. "You can not give in to that."

According to Geen 4 mei voor mij, the Netherlands only commemorates the white victims of World War II, and ignores the millions of people who were killed during the decolonization war in the Dutch East Indies.

Van Aartsen called the planned protest unacceptable, disrespectful and punishable. Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security called it "completely wrong".