The Public Prosecution Service brought five suspects to court on Wednesday for their involvement in the riots at Malieveld on September 20. The suspects threw stones at the police, among other things. The judge imposed community service on three suspects.
On Saturday, September 20, a group of over a thousand people chose to engage in a fight with the police around a demonstration. Stones were thrown, fires were set, and vandalism occurred. Most of the violence was directed at the police, but when a group of rioters moved into the city center after hours of unrest, vandalism occurred there as well.
The Hague had not seen such violent riots in years. The police had to deploy four units of the mobile unit, two water cannons, mounted police, and tear gas grenades. Only through the use of tear gas could it be prevented that officers would use their firearms. The safety of the peaceful demonstrators could no longer be guaranteed, leading to the cancellation of the demonstration.
Stones thrown at officers and horses
In the midst of the riots, the police managed to arrest several perpetrators. Fourteen had already been brought to court last week, ten of whom were convicted. Six were still in custody because further investigation was needed in their cases. For one of the suspects, the Public Prosecution Service released him over the weekend because footage showed he had not committed violence.
Thus, today five suspects were brought to court. They were accused of throwing stones at police officers, horses, and vehicles. Today’s cases are already a bit more serious than last week, the prosecutor told the court.
The Public Prosecution Service demanded prison sentences ranging from 6 to 16 weeks, some of which were conditional, with the special condition that the suspects pay 1500 euros to the Fund for Victims of Violent Crimes. The judge acquitted two suspects because he was not convinced they had committed violence. In three cases the court convicted the suspect to a community service of 60 hours, in two cases with a conditional prison sentence of 2 weeks and the condition that 1500 euros be paid to the Fund for Victims of Violent Crimes.
Thousand hours of footage
On the day of the riots, the police immediately started a criminal investigation led by the Public Prosecution Service. Initially, this focused on completing the files of the suspects who had been caught in the act. This allowed the Public Prosecution Service to bring suspects to court so quickly and, in most cases, to achieve a conviction.
At the same time, the investigation into other perpetrators of violence and inciters began. More than a thousand hours of footage has already been collected, which will be reviewed by specialists in the coming period. They focus on the questions of what violence was committed, by whom, and whether they can identify those suspects. This is a time-consuming process, but in the long run, the Public Prosecution Service expects to make new arrests.
