Hundreds of climate activists blocked one of the main roads into The Hague on Saturday, defying attempts to prevent their protest that have sparked concerns about restrictions on the right to demonstrate in the Netherlands. The protesters, many waving coloured flags with the symbol of environmental group Extinction Rebel-lion and one holding a sign saying, in Dutch, “This is a dead end road,” gathered on the A12 road near the temporary home of the Dutch parliament. Police and hundreds more demonstrators looked on.
Protesters who ignored police orders to leave the road were picked up and carried away one by one to waiting buses and driven away. Hours after the demonstration began it was unclear how many people had been detained. Police said in a tweet that many of the activists left voluntarily when told to by officers.
Earlier this week, six Extinction Rebellion ac-tivists were detained by authorities on suspicion of sedition linked to calls to stage the protest.
A judge on Friday upheld an order banning an-other activist from the area for 90 days. Extinction Rebellion said that he ignored the order and attended the protest.—APP
