Utrecht restaurant WAKU WAKU refuses to close after regulation

Monday September 27, 2021, 11.35 pm

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UTRECHT – Restaurant WAKU WAKU was the scene of protests around the corona ticket tonight. Because the catering facility on the Vredenburg in the city center of Utrecht refuses to check QR codes at the door, the restaurant had to close today due to the mayor. The owners refused and opened the doors anyway. Police officers were summoned, but a group of sympathizers had also gathered at the Vredenburg in the meantime.

A police spokesperson said around 9.45 pm tonight that he would ask the visitors of WAKU WAKU to leave the building. “If that doesn’t happen, we have to force people.”

In the end it didn’t come to that. Because the assembled group outside announced that they would wait until 11 p.m. and the police did not want things to escalate, there was no eviction.

Earlier tonight, the municipality announced that a catering facility had to close because the owners refused to check for the corona ticket.

Also read: Mayor closes Utrecht catering business that refuses to cooperate with corona pass

‘Unethical and wrong’

It soon became clear that it was WAKU WAKU – although the municipality would not confirm this at first. WAKU WAKU is a vegan restaurant on the Vredenburg in the center of Utrecht.

The owners had previously announced on Facebook that they did not want to participate in the corona pass. “The fact that the government is using the catering industry to increase the vaccination rate is unethical and wrong. We will NOT cooperate with this, because everyone is welcome with us regardless of origin, religion, sexual orientation or medical status.” they stated.

Looking forward to a very long evening

Dozens of people supported that call. They gathered in front of the entrance of the restaurant, a reporter from RTV Utrecht saw. “We want this entrepreneur to be allowed to stay open until 11 p.m. tonight,” the group spokesperson told the agents. “Otherwise we are all going to have a very long evening. I think you won’t be ready until 3:00 am tonight if you want to arrest everyone, because so many people are here.”

Others shared why they felt compelled to gather at the restaurant tonight. “I ate here yesterday. This is the only restaurant in Utrecht where I’m still welcome, because I don’t have a QR code,” said one of them. “I think that’s very nice, beautiful and special in this time: that they open the doors for me. While it should actually be very normal. And that’s why I support them.”

At around 11.30 pm, the police asked the demonstrators to leave for good. Although it took a while for everyone to heed that call, by then the worst of the turmoil seemed to have passed and calm had returned.

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