![]() ![]() The protests closed the N3 and N2 highways, which link the Indian Ocean ports of Durban and Richard's Bay to the industrial hub of Johannesburg and to Cape Town. Supporters in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal set up roadblocks on major highways and burned about 20 trucks. The unrest began on July 8 when former President Jacob Zuma started serving a 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court. “Rotterdam is a city where you can disagree with things that happen but violence is never, never, the solution.South Africa has been rocked by the worst violence since the nation achieved democracy in 1994. “The center of our beautiful city has this evening transformed into a war zone,” it said. Local political party Leefbaar Rotterdam condemned the violence in a tweet. ![]() The country has seen record numbers of infections in recent days and a new partial lockdown came into force a week ago. The government has said it wants to introduce a law that would allow businesses to restrict the country’s coronavirus pass system to only people who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 - that would exclude people who test negative. Police said in a tweet that it was “still unclear how and by whom” that person was apparently shot.Īn independent investigation into the shootings by police was opened, as is the case whenever Dutch police use their weapons. Video from social media shown on Dutch broadcaster NOS appeared to show one person being shot in Rotterdam, but there was no immediate word on what happened. Aboutaleb said that gangs of soccer hooligans were involved in the rioting. Police units from around the country raced to Rotterdam to help bring Friday night’s situation under control. It has nothing to do with demonstrating,” he added. “Protesting is a great right in our society, but what we saw last night is simply criminal behavior. “The riots and extreme violence against police officers, riot police and firefighters last night in Rotterdam are disgusting to see,” he said in a statement. ![]() Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus condemned the events. In January, rioters also attacked police and set fires on the streets of Rotterdam after a curfew came into force. It was one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the Netherlands since coronavirus restrictions were first imposed last year. Riot police and a water cannon restored calm after midnight. Photos from the scene showed at least one police car in flames and another with a bicycle slammed through its windshield. Police combing through video footage from security cameras expect to make more arrests. “They shot at protesters, people were injured,” Aboutaleb said. Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told reporters in the early hours of Saturday morning that “on a number of occasions the police felt it necessary to draw their weapons to defend themselves” as rioters rampaged through the port city’s central shopping district, setting fires and throwing rocks and fireworks at officers. One police officer was hospitalized with a leg injury sustained in the rioting, another was treated by ambulance staff and “countless” others suffered minor injuries. Officers in Rotterdam arrested 51 people, about half of them minors, police said Saturday afternoon. The condition of the injured rioters was not disclosed. The rioting in The Hague was on a smaller scale than the pitched battles on the streets of Rotterdam on Friday night, when police said that three rioters were hit by bullets and investigations were underway to establish if they were shot by police. ![]() Local media outlet Regio 15 reported that rioters threw bicycles, wooden pallets and motorized scooters on one of the fires. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |