Five arrested at anti-lockdown protests in The Hague, Rotterdam

The police in The Hague and Rotterdam arrested a total of five people after two unannounced protests against the coronavirus lockdown on Monday evening.

The protest in The Hague started at 7:00 p.m. in front of the Torentje, just as Prime Minister Mark Rutte was starting his address to the nation, announcing a hard lockdown. The protesters shouted, whistled and banged on pots and pans. The noise could be heard on the broadcast of Rutte's speech.

The municipality of The Hague put an end to the demonstration just after 7:00 p.m., by order of mayor Jan van Zanen. "The demonstration was not announced and was therefore ended," the municipality said, according to NU.nl. The police arrested two people, one for insult, the other for refusing to leave the site of the protest.

In Rotterdam, a group of around 150 protesters gathered on the Coolsingel at around 8:00 p.m. to protest against the newly announced lockdown, AD reports. They started on the sidewalk in front of the town hall and marched to various places in the city center, shouting slogans like "freedom, freedom, freedom" and "Rutte resign".

The police kept a close eye on this unannounced protest, fearing a disruption of public order. At around 10:00 p.m., three protesters were arrested, two of whom for "repeated and gross insulting of officials in office", according to the newspaper.