Haarlem mayor can't fine climate activists for demonstrating, court rules

The Haarlem court ruled on Thursday that Jos Wienen, the mayor of Haarlem, is not authorized to threaten four climate activists from the Extinction Rebellion with fines. Wienen had informed the activists in advance that they would have to pay 1,000 euros if they took part in a blockade or occupation.

The four activists regularly participate in the Extinction Rebellion protests. Because they did not cooperate with some of the actions when the demonstration had to be stopped, they were given a penalty order with a maximum fine of 5,000 euros. However, the XR protesters appealed against this in court.

According to the judges, the mayor of Haarlem did not make it clear to which locations the demonstration ban applied and what exactly the four activists were not allowed to do. "If the demonstrators want to participate in a demonstration in Haarlem in a non-public place, it is therefore not clear to them in advance whether they are committing a criminal offense," the court said.

Extinction Rebellion is pleased with the ruling and calls it "an important victory for the activists and for the right to demonstrate in the Netherlands, which has come under severe pressure recently."

The XR activists' lawyer, Jaap Baar, was also happy with the result and said that the court ruling sent a clear message to mayors in the Netherlands that this is not the right way to deal with demonstrations. "It is a very nice result that the court has followed XR's argument on several points. The fact that the court acknowledges that these burdens do not fit within the system of the Wom, the most fundamental ground for appeal, is particularly important. This makes it crystal clear that mayors cannot enforce demonstrations in this way".