Prosecutor to crack down on Hague rioters

The Public Prosecutor plans to, as far as possible, try all those arrested during the riots in Schilderswijk, The Hague over the past few days in summary proceedings. A total of 61 people have been arrested, the majority of them are minors. The Prosecutor expects that there will be more arrests. This is according to chief prosecutor Kitty Nooy during a press conference on Thursday afternoon, NOS reports. Mayor Joziaz van Aartsen called on the residents of Schilderwijk to help end the riots. He would not go into what measures will be taken to bring the riots to an end, but did say that the police have the possibility of enforcing a ban on assembly. The riots started on Monday night. Hundreds of people gathered at the police station to express their anger over the death of Aruban man Mitch Henriquez. The demonstration got out of hand and devolved into rioting, leading to several cases of vandalism. Sixteen people were arrested. On Tuesday night the riots continued. Groups of young people set fires at various locations. The riot police had to perform various charges, some of them to protect firemen trying to extinguish the fire. Eleven people were arrested. On Wednesday the Public Prosecutor announced that the likely cause of Henriquez death was suffocation, very likely brought on by the actions of the police officers who arrested him. This led to another round of riots in Schilderswijk on Wednesday night. Between 200 and 300 young people were involved. They pelted the police with stones, bottles and fireworks. One rioter event threw fuel over officers. A total of 34 people have been arrested.