Police in the Netherlands dispersed thousands of anti-lockdown protesters outside The Hague on Sunday, a day before the country’s national elections begin.
Reuters reports that police used batons and water cannons to disperse the crowd that authorities said ignored social aloofness rules, as well as warnings from authorities.
Twenty people were detained, authorities said, and two people were injured by police dogs after they refused to leave the area.
Many of those gathered in the crowd held up yellow umbrellas and signs in the opposition that read “Love, freedom, stop the dictatorship,” Reuters said.
Police use water cannon and batons to break anti-lockdown protest ahead of elections in the Netherlands https://t.co/1GSLiJMb3G pic.twitter.com/nL9lNWJS4u
– Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 14, 2021
Despite the protest, the news center notes that a majority of Dutch voters support the lockdown, as the coronavirus infection rate in the Netherlands is on the high side of the European countries.
The country has been under intense lockdown since January, Reuters notes, with rallies of more than two people banned and the first curfew since World War II. When the lockdown was extended, it sparked several days of riots across the country.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Netherlands has confirmed more than 1.1 million cases of coronavirus and more than 16,000 related deaths.
The Dutch national elections start on Monday and the polls will be open for the next three days. Reuters notes that Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s party, the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), is looking for four more years after the victory in 2010.