Hundreds arrested in climate change protest at A12 in The Hague

Demonstrators were taken away one after another. Photo: Jesper Peeters/HH/GinoPress

Hundreds of climate activists were arrested in The Hague on Saturday afternoon after blocking both sides of the A12 motorway in protest against government subsidies for fossil fuels such as oil and gas.

The road was cleared around 4pm when the last activists who had climbed the pole were cleared by police.

By late afternoon, police said at least 200 people had been arrested, but the Extinction Rebellion, which organized the protest, said about 500 had been arrested.

About 1,000 people gathered above the underpass to help block highways through the city close to government ministries.

A banner carried by demonstrators read: “17.5 billion euros of taxpayer money is being spent on fossil fuels.” Another said, “This is a dead end street.”

Mooie Relaxte sfeer bij @NLRebellion #demonstration #A12 pic.twitter.com/qZqL9HdSMV

— Peter Paul Klostermann (@PeterpaulK) January 28, 2023

Some demonstrators were tied to the road or chained to slow their movement. Police used his chain cutter to separate the activists and reportedly used cola to melt the glue.

“I’m ready to get arrested,” one law student told broadcaster NOS. “We’re not doing this for no reason. Something has to happen now.” And we will stay here until the police take us away.

📢 We steunen vandaag in Den Haag de dappere mensen van @NLRebellion Die de A12 blokkeren.

✋ Zij eisen: #StopFossiele subsidynet als wij en 300 economen. pic.twitter.com/fdNxqOiMRY

— Fossielvrij NL🔥 (@FossielvrijNL) January 28, 2023

Police began removing demonstrators around 12:45, after first calling on activists to clear the area or arrest them. By 2:00 p.m., dozens of people had been arrested and put into buses.

Representatives of dozens of other campaign groups took part in the ground demonstration and said they were there to protest the way demonstration rights are restricted in the Netherlands.

Earlier this week, seven people were arrested at their homes for calling them to join today’s demonstrations.