More than 500 climate activists arrested during A12 blockade
The police arrested 552 climate activists on Saturday who had partially blocked the A12 highway in The Hague. This is more than during the roadblocks of previous days: on Friday, more than 200 protesters were arrested, compared to around 100 the two days before.
Liefde en woede. Zo groeten wij elkaar. Liefde voor het leven, woede over het onrecht dat het leven wordt aangedaan. Onrecht dat door de overheid wordt gevoed met jaarlijks 39,7 tot 46,4 mld euro fossiele subsidies.
— Extinction Rebellion Nederland (@NLRebellion) September 23, 2023
Nooit leggen wij ons hierbij neer. Tot morgen 12:00 uur #A12. pic.twitter.com/vQFfRfjzlJ
The road was open to traffic again at 2:15 p.m. Around noon, protesters from Extinction Rebellion blocked the road for the fifteenth consecutive day to reiterate their demand to the government to stop projects that support the fossil fuel industry.
Since protesting is not allowed on the A12 highway, the municipality directed the climate activists to the Koekamplaan near Malieveld. The police again used a water cannon against the climate activists.
De blokkade (deels) van de A12/Utrechtsebaan is weer beëindigd. Actievoerders zijn verwijderd. De weg wordt schoongemaakt en zo snel mogelijk vrijgegeven voor het verkeer. Demonstreren kan op de aangewezen locatie op de Koekamplaan.
— Newsroom Den Haag (@Newsroom070) September 23, 2023
XR spokesperson Lucas Winnips claimed in a press statement that the climate action group is “not asking for police involvement. That is a political choice. It is now clear that Extinction Rebellion will continue as long as necessary and that we are expanding. I would like to ask the police not to intervene in our peaceful demonstration anymore because that is pointless. We will come back the next day.”
Extinction Rebellion has been demonstrating daily on the A12 since September 9.
Reporting by ANP and NL Times