A Spanish student from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) has been sentenced by the Dutch Justice to one month in prison by resistance to authority, use of the violence and threats to police officers during an intervention in a protest against the Israeli war in Gaza.
A total of six protesters were brought to justice this Friday for allegedly having used violence two weeks ago during the mobilization at a UvA faculty in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, although not all cases were resolved during the first hearing, and only the spanish student 24 years old He already received his sentence.
According to the court, the young man, of Spanish nationality but resident in the Netherlands, “kicked” and “threatened” Dutch police officers who were trying to put an end to the demonstration, and it has been shown that “resisted arrest with unnecessary force,” which for the judge was a display of “significantly inappropriate behavior.”
[Israel prohíbe al consulado de España en Jerusalén prestar servicio a los palestinos]
The prosecution had requested four months in prison for this young man and among the testimonies presented to the judges, the agents assured that he shouted at an officer, in English: “If I see you on the street, I will kill you, I will cut your throat.”according to public television NOS, based on the case file.
Another student, 25 years old and originally from Amsterdam, was acquitted due to lack of evidence, although the Prosecutor’s Office had requested three months in prison for him for allegedly throwing stones at riot police.
Another colleague of his, accused of throwing stones and spraying paint to the police, he denied the accusations, but refused to confirm his identity to the judge, which prevented his case from moving forward and he was sent back to his cell as a flight risk.
“He was demonstrating peacefully against the university’s association with faculties in Israel in the context of the war in Gaza,” the student explained, in English, stating that “he couldn’t hear (the police) and was scared” because he had heard that some “protesters had were injured in a protest earlier that week” due to police violence.
The cases of the other four suspects were postponed. They are not the first group of protesters to receive a court conviction for violence in the Netherlands against property or police officers during their participation in university protests demanding to cut ties with Israeli colleges given the war in Gaza.
Add Comment