Parliamentary questions about police action against Veritas members
Photo: DUB Maarten Hartman
On the basis of the footage of the arrest, Member of Parliament Monica den Boer wonders whether the minister believes that the police acted in an "adequate and responsible" manner. “In your opinion, is the approach taken by the agents, in which a person around the age of twenty is harshly thrown to the ground by a police officer and is held for some time in an arm lock and then even with one leg pushes against the respective person’s neck, while several times this person says "ouch", proportionally? "
Note to Anne-Fleur: Nooit ‘kom dan’ tegen een agent zeggen #introweken pic.twitter.com/0sWQ7SjHYW
— Jean-Paul Rison (@JeanPaulRison) August 27, 2019
Translation: Note to Anne-Fleur: Never say "come at me" to a police officer #introweeks
On Tuesday evening, 27th of August, the Utrecht police received reports from restaurant Roost on the Singel that a group of students caused disturbance in Park Paardenveld. Veritas members were said to have constantly walked into the restaurant without being paying customers there. In addition, guests were harassed and the toilet soiled. The police failed to convince the students to leave. That led to the arrest of three students.
“It may happen that we have to use force"
The member of parliament also wants to know how the arrest of people who do not want to cooperate, such as the three members of Veritas, could be improved. For example, is sufficient attention paid in police training how this can best be done, considering the build and age of the people involved. And do they reflect on "arrests that got out of hand?".
In addition, Den Boer wants to know the minister’s thoughts on the reaction of the Utrecht police on Facebook. The day after the incident, when the video of the arrest was frequently shared on social media, they wrote that the video does not give a comprehensive picture, because everything that preceded the arrest was not filmed. If that were the case, then it would have been possible to see students repeatedly ignoring requests from the police, the Facebook message said. In such cases, the police have no choice but to switch to arrests "and if people resist or cooperate, it may happen that we have to use force," the police wrote.
The minister must answer the questions within three weeks.