Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Several thousands of radical defied a prohibition Sunday to stitchery and protestation the Dutch government's coronavirus lockdown measures, successful Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022. The municipality of the Dutch superior banned the protest, saying constabulary had indications immoderate demonstrators could beryllium attending "prepared for violence." (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

AMSTERDAM – Thousands of radical successful the superior of the Netherlands defied a prohibition and gathered Sunday for a objection against the Dutch government's coronavirus lockdown measures earlier constabulary pushed the assemblage disconnected an Amsterdam square.

The section authorities had outlawed the protest, saying constabulary had indications immoderate demonstrators mightiness beryllium readying to be “prepared for violence.” The municipality aboriginal issued an exigency bid for radical to permission Museum Square, and riot constabulary marched crossed the writer to wide the area, sending the demonstrators into adjacent streets.

Before officers moved in, immoderate participants unfurled a banner that read, “Less repression, much care” adjacent the Van Gogh Museum. A radical of radical successful achromatic overalls and achromatic masks held up signs, including 1 that said: “It's not astir a virus, it's astir control” connected 1 broadside and "Freedom" connected the other.

There was a dense constabulary beingness connected the quadrate and successful adjacent streets. The municipality designated the country arsenic a information hazard region, giving constabulary the authorization to frisk radical preventatively.

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The objection came connected the aforesaid time Dutch constabulary said they would instrumentality enactment to protestation the expanding demands of their work. Union representatives person said riot constabulary would proceed to work, if necessary.

Coronavirus corruption rates person been gradually decreasing for weeks successful the Netherlands, which re-introduced lockdown measures successful November and tightened them further during the vacation season.

The 7-day rolling mean of caller regular cases edged somewhat little implicit the past week to 85.55 caller cases per 100,000 radical adjacent arsenic the omicron mutation became the nation's ascendant variant.

Under the lockdown, each non-essential shops are closed on with bars, restaurants and venues specified arsenic museums, theaters and cinemas.

In November, a coronavirus objection erupted into convulsive rioting successful Rotterdam and demonstrations connected Museum Square person ended successful confrontations betwixt constabulary and protesters who ignored orders to permission the area.

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Follow AP’s pandemic sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

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Corder contributed from The Hague, Netherlands.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.