Acquittal foreman of the Netherlands in opposition to a protest call
Photo: ANP
The leader of the protest movement Netherlands in resistance was acquitted on Friday by the court in Utrecht of inciting others to commit criminal offenses. In times of corona, Michel Reijinga called on his thousands of followers on social media to drive 50 kilometers per hour on the highways around Utrecht and thus cause a traffic jam.
In contrast to the Public Prosecution Service, the judge found that there was no incitement to commit criminal offences. Driving slowly on the highway is a problem of the Road Traffic Act, but because it was not the intention to block the road, according to the judge, it is not an incitement to commit a crime. The Public Prosecution Service had demanded 120 hours of community service.
On October 1, 2021, Reijinga was clamped on the highway by the police. Through his Telegram channel, he had his followers flock to the highways around Utrecht during the evening rush hour to drive 50 kilometers per hour there, which would cause a traffic jam. The closure of the Utrecht restaurant Waku Waku, which visitors did not want to check for their QR code, was the immediate reason for the protest.
The police feared for road safety and the accessibility of the hospital and therefore arrested Reijinga. He was on trial on Friday for sedition and collisions under the Road Traffic Act. Reijinga (55) was not present at the hearing himself, but said earlier that the call on a previously circulated flyer did not come from himself and that he only distributed it. His lawyer believes that he was merely exercising his right to demonstrate.
Reijinga and his movement became best known for corona demonstrations in Amsterdam, where he circumvented the rules by calling on people to drink individual coffee on, for example, the Museumplein. The ‘meetings’ there regularly resulted in confrontations with the Mobile Unit.