Two journalists from Leidsch Dagblad were arrested Monday while covering a demonstration by Extinction Rebellion (XR) near the A44 highway at Abbenes, Noord-Holland. According to police, the pair did not possess the required police-issued press cards. Other reporters on the scene, including those from ANP, were ordered to leave the area under threat of arrest.
Police designated the area near the demonstration as a security risk zone, citing an unspecified terrorism threat. They did not disclose further details about the nature or source of that threat. Before the protest began, two ANP reporters were stopped by officers. Police blocked their vehicle, asked to see their press cards and driver’s licenses, and took photographs of the car’s license plate. No explanation was provided for the photos.
The demonstration involved several dozen XR activists who attempted to block the A44 but were unable to reach the highway. The group instead gathered in a field beside the road, where they were surrounded by police. Officers ordered the demonstrators to leave, but they did not comply. Police vehicles were stationed nearby, and a helicopter circled overhead.
The A44 heading toward The Hague was closed to regular traffic ahead of this week’s NATO summit. That stretch of road has been reserved for summit delegations traveling from Schiphol Airport. Traffic in the opposite direction remained open.
Protesters carried signs with messages including “No safety on a dead planet” and “NATO leaders please behave.” XR had announced the action in advance, urging NATO member states to take urgent measures against the worsening climate and ecological crises. Police had previously stated that highway blockades would not be tolerated. XR has also announced plans to block the A12 in The Hague on Wednesday, the same day NATO leaders are scheduled to meet.
Thomas Bruning, general secretary of the Dutch journalists’ union NVJ, criticized the police response. “That police ordered journalists away and threatened them with arrest is exactly how we do not want it,” he said. “Journalists must be able to do their work.” He added that he was “surprised and alarmed” by the situation.
Peter ter Velde of PersVeilig, a Dutch press safety organization, also condemned the arrests. “The police must leave journalists in peace, also during the NATO summit,” Ter Velde said.
He emphasized that journalists should be allowed to do their work freely, as long as they can prove they are professionals. “That can be done, for example, with a press card issued by the journalists’ association NVJ,” he said. “We now know that journalists are being taken away along with demonstrators and interrogated. That is not the way to treat journalists.”