Dennis and Willeke are married and have owned Barpiazza on Museumplein for 18 years. On Sunday they got the shock of their lives when the riot police surrounded the case and went in with nine men to do a check.
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It is almost a Sunday tradition: the demonstrations on the Museumplein, and the riot police that evacuate the square at the end of the afternoon. Dennis van Dijk and Willeke Bouricius have seen it happen for weeks, right in front of their restaurant Barpiazza. They have been closed for a year, except for take out. And on Sundays they earn a little extra by selling coffee to the protesters.
Dennis and Willeke’s coffee bar is also open this Sunday. Until the riot police starts ‘sweeping’ the square, the door will close for a moment. “That’s the deal,” says Dennis. “We discussed that with each other. Every time the protesters are put across the crossroads here. The police don’t want people in their backs, so we said: then we close the door and keep those customers inside, who then just buy coffee. “
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They looked everywhere, in the cold store, on the toilets, but there was no customer inside
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When doors are closed this Sunday, there will be eleven people inside, according to Dennis and Willeke: five customers and six employees. He lets the customers out through the emergency exit. Yet shortly afterwards the riot police are at the door. Dennis: “They checked everything. They looked in the cold store, in the toilets, everywhere. Then they wanted us to go out and line up there.”
Then something snapped in Willeke. “They were nine strong here with those shields and they wanted to take my 14-year-old daughter out. Eventually Willeke was able to stay indoors with her daughter and the staff. Dennis went to the arrest van. He sat there for 20 minutes, and then was released again.
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Black on white
Dennis: “I asked that officer what he thought of it himself. Well, he was just looking at his shoes.” Barpiazza has not been fined or warned. But that is not enough for Dennis and Willeke. “The eight people who were arrested were not my customers, they were here at the door because they had nowhere else to go.”
As far as Dennis is concerned, he has done nothing wrong, and he now asks in a letter to Mayor Halsema for a police report stating in black and white that Barpiazza has not broken any rules. “Because I am good, but I will not accept this.”
A spokesman for the police said that there were many people on the terrace and in the bar. “And people inside also shoulder to shoulder, which is why we went in to see what the situation was. In the end, eight people were arrested for not complying with the corona measures.”
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