Netherlands’ Rotterdam police arrested a 14-year-old youth last week in connection with the fire which burnt down a theatre in the Plaswijckpark amusement park in Rotterdam.

The youngster was picked up after a video, which allegedly showed the blaze being started, was circulated on the internet and social media . The Plaswijckpark is a small-scale amusement park that caters to young children, and has some live animals as well as other attractions for kids.

Elsewhere, police in various towns and cities arrested up to 300 individuals in connection with devastating riots held against the restrictions and curfews imposed by the Dutch government to minimise the spread of the coronavirus.  Most of the arrests took place in Amsterdam and Eindhoven. Prime minister Mark Rutte described the violence that accompanied anti-lockdown protests in some Dutch towns and cities as ‘unacceptable’. Rioters were also fined for not complying with the coronavirus rules, including social distancing, wearing face masks and selling alcohol.

Police also arrested another minor from Zuidhorn for calling on people to bring petrol to Groningen and loot shops using a chat group with 425 members. In Drachten a 19-year-old man and a minor were arrested for calling for riots, as was a 17-year-old youth in Oosterhout. Limburg police also made one arrest for incitement, while two men, aged 23 and 23 were arrested in Utrecht on similar charges.

In Leiden, three teenagers aged 15 and 16 were arrested for carrying white spirit and explosives.

In Nijmegen a 26-year-old man and 19-year-old woman were picked up, apparently while filling bottles with petrol. They had also made their intentions to riot plain on social media, police said. The public prosecution department says that simply circulating a message calling on people to riot can be considered a criminal offence. ‘Sharing this sort of message can in concrete cases be seen as incitement,’ a spokesman told local broadcaster Omroep Brabant.

The Oost-Brabant police force went as far as to confiscate cars, money, bank accounts and even salaries from some of the people arrested in connection with the riots. This was done in order to ensure that eventual claims for damages can be paid by the perpetrators themselves, if they are found guilty.

The ongoing pandemic-inspired curfew is the first time a curfew has been imposed in the Netherlands after World War 2. The country is seeing an increased police presence everywhere due to these anti-curfew disturbances.

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