Climate activists to challenge police in court over water cannon

Climate campaign group Extinction Rebellion is heading for court in an effort to stop the police using water cannon to break up the daily A12 blockade.

The use of water cannon “against peaceful demonstrators is totally unnecessary and disproportionate”, lawyer Willem Jebbink said.

“The demonstrators are being sprayed at high pressure, despite not being a threat or a danger,” he said. “Water cannons are weapons and they make victims.”

Legal documents will be served later on Monday or on Tuesday, and then a date for the emergency hearing will be set.

Sunday was the first day since the protests began on September 9 that police did not use water cannon to break up the crowd.

XR also claims the police are using the water cannon on maximum, rather than the weakest pressure as The Hague’s mayor Jan van Zanen has asserted.

On Saturday, Extinction Rebellion claimed the police had turned up the water cannon pressure and warned demonstrators to place their bags behind their backs to protect against physical damage.

The demonstrators are calling for an end to tax breaks on the use of fossil fuels, which climate ministry figures suggest could be as much as €46 billion a year.

More than 6,500 demonstrators have been arrested since the protests began. “If the government does not stop subsidising fossil fuels, tens of thousands will follow them,” the campaign group said on social media on Sunday.