The farmers had demonstrated early on at waste processor Attero in Wijster. Then they retreated to the farm of Grummel-Fikkert’s parents. In the morning everything seems okay – even with the police. “We see all the tractors driving into the yard. They quit, but cannot go home. So they collect here ”, Grummel-Fikkert describes on Facebook.
“I understand that the police say they will not do anything. Great, the position has been made and everyone can go home in no time. ” She herself was not at the protest. She wants to go to work. Grandma looks after her daughter.
Anxiety and stress
Suddenly everything changes. “Out of nowhere there are vans from the ME and the special unit of the police everywhere. The whole street is full. And now? I decide to pick up my daughter and go upstairs with my sister and her son. There we hear them say that everyone is arrested in the yard. Everyone … shit. We have nothing to do with it, but what if? Our children? We live here? Fear and stress shoot through our body. We see everyone being arrested. Men with a mask walk everywhere. We are silent. ”
Grummel-Fikkert is hiding on the top floor. The children don’t get much. “They paint, make-up and watch movies, and see it as an outing in the bedroom,” she describes. “We keep an eye on the cameras in the meantime, because suppose they come up. You don’t know what to expect, whether they distinguish the people who live there, from young children? ” Minors would eventually be included, but not hers.
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Grummel-Fikkert’s Facebook post has generated quite a bit in the area. The story is shared more than six hundred times. The Dagblad van het Noorden decided to take a closer look at the young mother, who once again tells her story.
She understands that the action at Attero was illegal. But she does not consider the reprisals from the police to be proportional. “Many people expected a fine, but you don’t think a whole bump of ME or special unit would come here and take everyone with them.”
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“Farmers must continue to make their voices heard. Otherwise I am afraid that not a single farmer will remain in the Netherlands, ”says Grummel-Fikkert. “As early as 1999, my parents campaigned for grain prices. It hasn’t gotten better in all the years since. More and more things have to be adjusted, which costs money and stress; do I meet it? I think it is a problem for many farmers. ”
Police: seven minors arrested
According to Grummel-Fikkert, her mother was also taken. She had “just woken up” and had not taken part in the protest, she emphasizes. “That she was also arrested only made it more frightening.”
Ultimately, 63 activists were arrested, including seven minors, a police spokesperson confirms to De Telegraaf. The arrests were made because demonstrations using tractors were prohibited at the time. In addition, the blockade created “a line of trucks that could not deliver their cargo to the company.” “The activists were arrested on the farm’s property or in the surrounding area, where they drove after their action. They were taken to the Balkengracht police station in Assen for further investigation, ”the police reported in a press release.
In the evening all farmers were released one by one. This was followed by a large, spontaneous party on the farm of Grummel-Fikkert’s father, who now passes as a ‘party farmer’. The adults were fined 390 euros, the minors were referred to Halt. Grummel-Fikkert’s parents were also released after six hours. “Wonderful to see your daughter running happily back to Grandma.”
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Images of the spontaneous barbecue, held in the yard of Ilse Grummel-Fikkert’s father, when all those arrested were released.
Ⓒ Hollandse Hoogte / ANP
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A large number of farmers have already announced that they will not accept the fine, and are waiting for the subdistrict court judge to decide.
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