Student gets 1 month in prison for threatening cop at Amsterdam University protest

A 24-year-old Spanish student was sentenced to 1 month in prison for kicking and threatening a police officer during a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Amsterdam on May 8. Another student, a 25-year-old man from Amsterdam, was acquitted due to lack of evidence. The cases against five other demonstrators are still ongoing, NOS reports.

The court considered it proven that the Spanish student, who lives in the Netherlands, resisted arrest with unnecessary force. “You exhibited significantly inappropriate behavior,” the police judge said on Thursday. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had demanded four months in prison against the man.

The man had threatened to kill a police officer at the protest. “If I see you on the street, I will kill you. I will slit your throat,” he allegedly said. He apologized for the threats at the hearing.

Another demonstrator, a 25-year-old man from Amsterdam, was acquitted. The OM had demanded three months in prison against him. According to the OM, two police officers had seen him throwing stones at a riot cop. The student denied the allegations, and his lawyer argued that he was at the scene to participate in a peaceful demonstration. The judge acquitted the man due to insufficient evidence.

A third protester also appeared in court on Thursday. He was remanded back into custody until May 29 because he refused to identify himself. According to the judge, because the authorities don’t know who the man is, his case cannot be concluded, and his anonymity increases his flight risk.

The OM accused the protester of throwing stones and spraying paint at police officers. He denied it. “I was peacefully demonstrating against the university’s association with several universities in Israel in the context of the war in Gaza,” the man said. He said he couldn’t hear the police warnings and was frightened. “We had seen in the media that demonstrators had been injured during a demonstration earlier in the week.”

Four other demonstrators' trials were postponed, mostly due to time constraints. According to the judge, the cases proved too complex to handle on the same day.