Squatted hotel Rembrandt was evicted on the 15th of October 2022. The eviction happened after only a few days of occupation. According to the court the building was unsafe to reside in. This decision was made in our absence, we were not given the ability to present evidence in our defense and no inspection had taken place.
Even though the biggest part of the building is safe to live in and the stripped part had been closed off, the court decided to evict without a hearing. We wonder if it has something to do with the extremely expensive lawyers of the owner?
The police came by on the 14th of October to announce that we would have to leave, our lawyer confirmed they made this decision and going into high appeal would not call off the eviction. They gave us 3 hours to pack our stuff.
Autonomous Student Struggle (A.S.S.) called for a demonstration in front of the building, to protest against this ridiculous verdict to protect the landlords of the city from homeless students.The police decided not to show themselves until the next morning when they evicted us with their special forces. Resistance ensued in the form of barricades, the occupants could escape before being captured. The owner hired private security to stand in front of the door for the rest of the day.
As of now we still have not seen a written verdict. The court is giving landlords and speculators a free road while we face repression for using the abandoned to attain a basic necessity; housing. We believe its necessary to use every means to fight these state-actions; on the streets, through legal and illegal means.
Their desperate means to legitimize their evictions is a confirmation of the threat we are, as we all know we would only need a spark to ignite the fuel of our outrage. Much respect for the people who showed up for the spontaneous demonstration, we are all in this together!
Some squats in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/NL/squated/squat
Groups (social center, collective, squat) in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/NL
Events in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/events/country/NL
Indymedia https://indymedia.nl/node/52597
