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Police officers in the patrol car speak to a woman who is still out and about in Rotterdam that evening (archive recording)
Photo: Robin Utrecht / ANP / dpa
Success for the Dutch government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte: The controversial curfew imposed by the state was introduced on a lawful legal basis, an appeal court in The Hague ruled on Friday.
The judgment of the previous instance was thus overturned.
In the first instance the judge had stated that there was no acute emergency for the introduction of the measure.
The appellate judges contradicted this: "The corona pandemic is sufficient as an occasion." In view of the severity of the pandemic, the two-part restriction of basic rights such as freedom of movement is justified.
The Corona protest group "Virus Truth" complained about the curfew and was initially right on February 16.
The government had appealed, but at the same time presented an emergency law to give the measure a different legal basis.
The law has already entered into force.
Therefore, the current ruling is no longer relevant for maintaining the curfew.
The curfew from 9 p.m. to 4.30 a.m. was introduced around a month ago, primarily to slow down the spread of the British virus variant.
As a result, there had been violent riots in several cities in the first few days.
The police used water cannons and tear gas against the rioters in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Eindhoven, among others, and more than 400 people were arrested.
The measure was recently extended to March 15.
Since mid-January, Rutte has only been in office in an executive position.
His government resigned following a family allowance scandal.
An early parliamentary election will take place in the Netherlands in mid-March.
In order to minimize the risk of infection, the polls will take place on three days.
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as / dpa / AFP
