Last Wednesday we heard the verdict of our court case. As many of you may have heard already, WE WON! This is not just great for all the people living in the Vossiusstraat squat and organising political events in it, but for the entire squatting movement and for everyone who likes watching (Russian) billionaires get their property taken away.
Volozh’s lawyer tried to claim that Volozh’s family plans to move into the building. In that case, why did they split the building into three different addresses? Why are there SIX bathtubs? Why does every floor have its own locks?
The renovations of the building were ruled to be unlawful. If we had not squatted the building, they would have continued their works undisturbed — as per their own admittance. This makes clear that at this moment, the sanctions are not actually being upheld by the Dutch government.
Again and again, the government has hounded poor people while turning a blind eye to the illegal proceedings of the rich. The tax system and their bureaucracy destroy the lives of the most vulnerable, while exempting huge companies from paying taxes at all and allowing all kinds of constructions for rich people.
Yandex is registered as a company in the Netherlands. If you ask the average person here, they’ve never heard of this massive corporation. It has no clients and provides no services in this country. Instead, it is active in Russia, promoting Kremlin propaganda. The Dutch government will allow any corporation, no matter how bad its ethical track record, to register here for tax benefits. But who actually stands to benefit from this? It’s definitely not us — for us it is increasingly impossible to afford a house or rent, while refugees are forced to sleep in the cold. We will use this building to organize political and social events in support of those resisting the war and those who are left out in the cold – be it through displacement by war or capitalism.
We want to thank everybody who reached out to us in support, who brought supplies and goods, and those that have contacted us to help organize the space. We gladly invite you to come to our open assembly on Saturday. There’s a lot to do still, and there’s plenty of possibilities with a building like this.
Vossiusstraat 16
1071AB Amsterdam
Netherlands
vossiusstraat16 [at] riseup [dot] net
https://squ.at/r/91hd
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
