Halsema questioned on 'disproportionate' curfew as Dutch corona inquiry turns to unrest

Halsema's private doubts about the curfew

Femke Halsema, mayor of Amsterdam since 2018, appears before the parliamentary inquiry committee at 10:00 on Monday. The fifth week of hearings is dedicated to "the curfew and the unrest," examining the night-time curfew that ran from January to April 2021. Halsema has previously described the measure as "disproportionate" and said she had serious doubts about enforcing it.

I found it a disproportionate measure, which particularly hit young people and singles.

Despite her objections, Halsema implemented the curfew in Amsterdam. She later explained that a local mayor could not simply set aside national authority. "It is quite something when you, as a local administrator, push aside national authority," she told broadcaster AT5. "You also set the wrong example, because at the same time you want people to follow the law."

In a 2023 interview with Het Parool, she went further, calling the curfew a deprivation of freedom rather than a restriction. "This was no longer a restriction of freedom but deprivation of freedom. For me it was principled, it went too far." She also claimed to have influenced the eventual abolition of the measure.

The Dam protest and Museumplein demonstrations

Halsema is also expected to face questions about her handling of demonstrations. On 1 June 2020, thousands gathered on Dam Square for a Black Lives Matter protest, standing close together despite distancing rules. Halsema later acknowledged it was too crowded but said intervening at that moment carried risks. The decision drew criticism, as businesses and citizens were being held to strict rules.

As the pandemic wore on, weekly protests against corona measures erupted at Museumplein. For thirteen consecutive Sundays, demonstrators gathered under the guise of "drinking coffee" to circumvent the ban on assemblies. Police deployed water cannons and made hundreds of arrests.

I am not happy with everything I had to do. Pfff, we had to use water cannons at the corona demonstrations. But even then I always tried to minimize the violence as much as possible.

Police chief Van Essen on enforcement and riots

At 14:00, former national police chief Henk van Essen will be heard. He led the force from April 2020 and was responsible for enforcing the corona measures. Van Essen has stressed that restrictions had to be explainable and enjoy public support. The introduction of the curfew triggered the worst riots in decades, with emergency ordinances issued and thousands of fines handed out.

It was an incredibly intensive week, on a scale we have not seen in decades in the Netherlands.

The broader inquiry

This is the fifth week of a nine-week parliamentary inquiry, the heaviest instrument of the Dutch House of Representatives. Earlier witnesses included former prime minister Mark Rutte, intensive-care physician Diederik Gommers, and former Outbreak Management Team chair Jaap van Dissel. Later this week, former justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus and Van Dissel are scheduled to appear again.