Ameland authorities expected clash between locals, media during Sunneklaas celebration

The authorities on Ameland expected a clash between island residents and PowNed journalists who came to report on the Sunneklaas celebration on December 5 last year. The mayor, police, and Public Prosecution Service (OM) on the island even had the text for an emergency decree and a press statement about a violent altercation prepared days before it happened, Leeuwarder Courant reports based on documents received through the Open Government Act. The police also deployed three additional officers to the island on December 5.

Sunneklaas is a secretive tradition unique to Ameland. Island residents don’t welcome outsiders to the celebration. On December 5, PowNed reporters arrived on the island by ferry only to have their car immediately surrounded by Ameland residents. According to the reporters, the locals chased them across the island at high speeds, even ramming their car. Several suspects were later arrested.

In a statement Mayor Leo Pieter Stoel prepared for the municipal council but ultimately did not use, he said that he suspected PowNed would show up for the Sunneklaas celebration after a PowNed reporter came to do initial reporting on the island several days before. The reporter questioned residents and attended the municipal council meeting. Stoel spoke to him afterward and warned him that “Amelanders do not appreciate if you interfere in their party.”

A few days later, Stoel met with the police and OM to discuss what could happen if PowNed reporters came to report on Sunneklaas. One possibility was that the reporters would go to the police first. “Then they can ask for guidance,” reads a report on that conversation. “That may reduce the chance of a confrontation.” If they don’t go to the police, the police would monitor things from a distance, the authorities agreed. According to the police, mayor, and OM, the reporters were consciously seeking out risk and were “in principle, responsible for their own safety.”

During that consultation, three days before the events, the authorities also decided to prepare an emergency order. “If PowNed does not want to cooperate in leaving after a confrontation,” the police could then force them to go. The emergency order, which ultimately wasn’t used, speaks of “a scuffle/conflict” between reporters and “participants of the Amelander tradition.”

On December 4, the day before the events, the municipality also drafted a press statement, which also did not end up being used. It stated: “During the party, an incident took place between [the press and a number of Amelanders]. We deeply regret that. We naturally disapprove of any form of violence and are currently investigating what exactly happened.”

On the day itself, before the PowNed crew arrived, police officers went to the pier and found at least five locals waiting for the ferry. The police asked them what their intentions were. “It was explained to us that they would explain the rules of Sunneklaas to any ‘guests,’” a police officer wrote in an internal email five days later. “We have made good agreements with the Amelanders at the ferry dam that no violence would be used. This was promised to us by their spokesperson.”

The officers decided to keep their distance by not standing “on top” of the Ameland residents. “We positioned ourselves at the station, which gives us less than 2 minutes’ drive to the ferry.” The violence started the moment the PowNed crew arrived on the ferry.

The police told the Leeuwarder Courant that the police commanders should have made better agreements with the officers in advance. District chief Janneke Bakker said the police officers “did a good job considering the circumstances.” She added: “In retrospect, we should have stayed by the boat.”