“It’s a children’s party,” says suspect B. during the trial about the assault on KOZP demonstrators

Suspect Klaas H. (21) called it a “beautiful day” for Staphorst during the police interrogation. “But it was not a nice day,” says the prosecutor in the courtroom in Zwolle. The day in 2022 on which the cars of demonstrators from Kick Out Zwarte Piet and Amnesty employees on their way to a demonstration at the arrival in Staphorst were surrounded and pelted, was “a violation of fundamental fundamental rights,” she says. “The right to demonstrate has been hindered.”

Today three suspects from Staphorst are on trial. There is also a fourth suspect, a forty-year-old man from the municipality of Twenterand, but due to an ill counselor, his hearing has been moved to April.

The judge starts with images showing a large crowd surrounding cars on the Staphorst exit. Some are recognizable in the picture, many are dressed as Zwarte Piet. Eggs are thrown, smoke flares are lit and one car is pushed and kicked until it rocks.

The images were broadcast throughout the Netherlands in 2022. The KOZP demonstration ultimately did not take place, the mayor was afraid of violence in the village. All men are charged with open violence.

Red Pete suit

Suspect Johan B. (27) from Staphorst recognizes himself in the images, where he can be seen with his face painted black, red lips and a red Pete suit. “It has gotten a bit out of hand,” B. says to the judge. B. has no criminal record. He still lives with his parents and has his own business. He admits to throwing eggs. “And I must have pushed the car at some point.” The judge asks: “You are attached to Zwarte Piet?” B. remains silent. “You can say it, you will not be charged for that,” says the judge. “It’s a children’s party,” says B. “I thought it was a shame that there was a large group chanting while children were doing something fun.” There are mumblings in the public gallery, where KOZP leader Jerry Afriyie sits, among others.

According to his lawyer, B. got carried away by what was happening around him. “I didn’t come with the intention of throwing and pushing eggs.” B. is the only one who takes the floor during the hearing to say sorry “to the people who have been in such fear.” The officer asks him if he wants to say who can be seen in the images. B. refuses. “That is their own responsibility.”

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Supporters of the action group Kick Out Zwarte Piet (left) were attacked at a demonstration in Volendam in December 2021.” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/H5qhpJtFu83oxIkylzcYb6HS3NI=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data110279057-068749.jpg”/>

Jaron S. (23) from Staphorst walks around in the images with a smoke torch that he “didn’t take with him himself,” he says. S. lit the smoke torch and walked to the (partially opened) window on the driver’s side, causing the car to fill with smoke, according to the occupants. “My clients were terrified,” says KOZP’s lawyer. “I let the group screw me over,” says S. “I intended to stay out of it. I didn’t come to riot. Then I would have put on a balaclava.” The judge retorts: “If you wanted to stay out of it, you would have stayed home, right?”

Klaas H., a 21-year-old resident of Staphorst, is curt. Sometimes he laughs or grins when the judge mentions the fact that he has previously been arrested for disturbing public order. “I was kicked out of a café with some comrades.” The judge asks him if he feels responsible. “You all did this together,” she says, referring to the violence. H. feels responsible for himself, he says. “I think that someone who stands by and watches is not responsible for someone who breaks off a windshield wiper,” he says. “That is still a discussion,” said the judge.

Public violence

The public prosecutor indeed demands that all three suspects be convicted together for one offense: public violence. “It is not necessary for all suspects to have committed the same violence, or to have started it at the same time,” she says. The officer wants the judge to also take into account in her judgment that the car with KOZP demonstrators is attacked again after it has already driven a few hundred meters away. Even though the suspects were not there. “This is not just about what they actually did themselves.”

She demands 180 hours of community service and a suspended prison sentence of two weeks, with a probationary period of three years. The officer also believes that the 1,000 euros demanded by Amnesty and KOZP per suspect as compensation for non-material damage and approximately 2,500 euros in damage to the car should be awarded.

KOZP is surprised by the fact that of the dozens of people in the picture, only four suspects have been traced. The suspects’ lawyers also mention that fact. “Why did my client have it, and not others who were also in the picture?” says S’s lawyer. “If you walk into Staphorst with a stack of photos, you can easily pick out ten.”

“Do you really think it is that easy,” the officer responds. The police are said to have searched with an extensive team and shared the images in various television programs. S. was identified this way, H. through a search on social media. The officer holds up a group photo of various people present on the exit at Staphorst, taken from Facebook. “Do you really think it is that easy to trace them if no one names names? If S. finds it so annoying that he is one of those four and not a hundred suspects, he can still report to the police after this hearing. Then you are no longer one of the four.”

The verdict will be announced on January 30.

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