Police admit they did not adequately protect journalists attacked on Ameland

The journalists of PowNed who were attacked by a group of residents of Ameland last December while attempting to report on the Sunneklaas celebrations were insufficiently protected by the police. The police chief of the Noord-Nederland unit, Martin Sitalsing, admitted as much on Friday on the World Press Freedom Day.

Sitalsing called press freedom "an important part" of the democratic constitutional state. "As police, we therefore have the task of ensuring that journalists can do their work as safely as possible, given the circumstances. On December 5, we did not show that vigor sufficiently, and we need to learn from that," the chief added.

The police were aware of the journalists' eventual arrival on the island for Sunneklaas, a party with a rather mysterious character where no people from outside Ameland are allowed.

The police also knew that Amelanders could be angry about the journalists' coming. And yet, the officers were gone before the boat with PowNed journalists arrived.

“We have learned from it,” Sitalsing said. “Looking back, we should have better protected the PowNed journalists, and we also understand that aspects of our actions that evening did not appear neutral to those involved.”

“We are happy with this statement,” said Dominique Weesie, the PowNed chair. “It shows that the police failed to do their job at the time. That is the end of the matter for us. We assume that we will be able to do our job as usual next Sunneklaas. Although we would also like to see it from the mayor in black and white. Because until now, he has not been heard from, which says everything about him.”

After the incident, PowNed filed several reports with the police to press charges over the issue. The broadcaster also submitted a complaint about the handling of the situation to the Noord-Nederland police district, which covers Drenthe, Friesland and Groningen.