The mobile unit (ME) of the police was deployed on Monday evening at a student protest at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Dozens of students have occupied part of the university’s Binnengasthuis since Monday afternoon. Thirty arrests have been made.
The students want the university to end its collaboration with Shell. According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), they were guilty of breaching local peace. That is why the riot police was deployed around 8.30 pm to evacuate the building.
The protest took place in the building of the former Academic Club. Dozens of activists had entrenched themselves there. According to the police spokesman, there were also about seventy to eighty people demonstrating outside the building. Shortly after 11 p.m., the police were able to restore calm and hand over the property to the owner.
Earlier in the day, a representative of the university’s Executive Board spoke with the activists. In addition, the Executive Board has announced that occupancy is not permitted at the UvA. Because the activists could not immediately promise whether they would leave, the UvA filed a report of trespassing.
