Over 1,000 climate activists block A12 again, police use water cannon and arrests made

Climate activists blocked the A12 highway in The Hague for the second day in a row on Sunday. Around 11:45 a.m., the first protesters arrived on the highway, and by 11:55 a.m. there were about 1,000 demonstrators on and along the A12. The police arrested one climate activist, according to an ANP reporter on the scene.

The police used a water cannon against the climate activists, according to an ANP reporter at the scene. The use of the water cannon followed shortly after the municipality announced that the mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, gave permission to arrest activists who do not respond to the police's call to leave. "We are currently busy arresting the activists on the A12. The water thrower was briefly deployed," the police reported around 12.30 p.m."

The municipality reported that activists had entered the A12. "This blockade is not allowed. Instead, activists can participate in the planned climate demonstration on Reagan and Gorbachev avenues," the municipality posted on X.

Meanwhile, a group of four to five hundred people on the A12 has been surrounded by the police, and other people outside this group are being herded off the highway in the direction of the permitted support demonstration. A demonstrator was also taken out of the group surrounded by the police and taken away, but it is unclear where.

Furthermore, the mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, has given permission to reopen the A12 in The Hague, which was blocked by climate activists, to traffic. This was announced by the municipality on X. "The activists are asked by the police to leave the highway and join the announced climate demonstration," the municipality wrote.

A police spokesperson said that enforcement operations will be determined based on the current situation. "Also today, the triangle (mayor, prosecutor's office and police) will meet to determine these deployments," the spokesperson said. However, the police did not say yet how many officers will be deployed, NOS reported.

Several dozen climate activists were present in the station hall of The Hague Central Station shortly before 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, on their way to the planned A12 blockade or support demonstration, as observed by an ANP reporter on the scene. However, it is much quieter than on Saturday, when at the same time there were several hundred climate activists in the hall.

The A12 in The Hague was also blocked by climate activists on Saturday. More than 10,000 people took part in the Extinction Rebellion (XR) climate protests at the time, including up to 9,000 who were on the highway, according to the municipality. A total of more than 2,400 activists were arrested during Saturday's blockade. A support demonstration near The Hague Central Station was attended by about 1,500 people on Saturday, Hague authorities said.