On Friday the 23rd [July 1999] the arrestants of the eviction of the Paard van Amstel on july 13th were trialed at the court in Amsterdam. Because there were a lot of testimonies of policemen (some of them where clearly false) the squatters where convicted to 4 weeks in prison.
The false testimonies of the policemen where for a part about one of the squatters wearing glasses. The policemen sayed that they had recognised one of the defenders wearing them, defense made clear that at that point the squatter had contaclenses in.
The state prosecutor recognised that squatting was an accepted phenomenon in the Netherlands and especially in Amsterdam. But if the administration decided that they wanted to evict a house, even if it was a wrong decision, there could be no right defending the place. The 40 supporters in the courtroom commented this plea with a loud protest. The supportes carried a banner with the tekst: IF YOU DO NOT START THROWING YOU WILL NEVER HIT.
The Paard van Amstel (Horse at the Amstel) is reasquatted at the meantime and when the prisoners are realeased they can re-enter there old squat. Till that time noise demonstrations at the prisons will continue.
The council recognised at last her responsibility for the house. The city feares that in case the house will collapse the city will be responcible for the damage. During the eviction the police used a container that damaged the front of the house. The city wants to buy the house or if that is not succesfull expropriate it.
For more information contact http://squat.net/paard
