Police release all 24 held after 19 September Malieveld riot
All 24 people arrested during the disorder at the Malieveld in The Hague on Saturday 19 September have been released, police said on Sunday 20 September. Most of them were let go on the Saturday itself, a police spokesperson confirmed, and the remainder followed.
The arrests were made during and after a demonstration that turned violent. Police said at the time that those detained were held on suspicion of carrying prohibited weapons and of ignoring an emergency order issued for the area. The weapons named by police were knives and knuckledusters. Reporters from the national news agency saw that minors were among those arrested. Officers were attacked during the disorder, fireworks were thrown, and police have said that antisemitic slogans heard at the scene are being looked at.
Release does not mean the cases are closed. The police spokesperson declined to say whether those freed went home with a summons to appear in court or with a fine, and would not give the time of the releases or any detail about who the suspects are. The force said only that they will have to answer for their conduct at a later point. In Dutch practice a suspect can be released while an investigation continues and be summoned weeks or months afterwards.
For anyone who was in the area, the practical position is straightforward. An emergency order gives police the power to order people out of a defined zone and to search them, and ignoring one is an offence in itself, separate from anything else that happened. If you were stopped, searched or detained and were not told clearly what you were suspected of, you can ask the police for a written record of the stop. If you received a summons or a fine, the date on the document is the one that counts, not the date you were released.
Anyone who witnessed violence against officers or heard the slogans under investigation can still contact the police, including anonymously through the national anonymous crime reporting line.