More than two years after the eviction of Wijde Heisteeg 7 in Amsterdam centre, two people are still fighting against a prison sentence for squatting a house that it is still empty today.
The eviction was on 23 December 2016 some hours after the civil court case was lost. At the eviction 4 people were arrested and they were charged for squatting. In November 2017 two of the people arrested got a fine of 500€ and were requested to give their DNA samples. For the other two people the court has ordered prison sentences, one of four and one of six weeks and DNA samples from each.
The son of the owner filed a claim for € 106.110,60 in damages and compensation for lost rent and VAT. the court declared this request inadmissible.
The people who risk prison sentences have appealed and there is no date for the hearing yet. But we know that the son of the owner upholds his request for compensation in the appeal procedure for a house that is still empty today, except for the ground floor, which since the eviction has been rented out to a small clothing antikraak pop up store.
Background info about Wijde Heisteeg 7
The monumental house was squatted a first time 4 years long from February 2007 till March 2011. According the squatters, in 2007 the house was in bad condition, the roof leaking on several spots, some windows broken and the rooms humid and dirty. They worked on the house to make it inhabitable. Wijde Heisteeg 7 was evicted a first time on 22nd March 2011. It was the first eviction wave in Amsterdam after the squatting ban from 1st October 2010. The owner, P.W. Hagendoorn, was rewarded by justice and police for his misbehaviour. He had no granted permit to start renovations and his intention was to move in an anti-squatter.
On Saturday 9th January 2016, a rotting away and empty Wijde Heisteeg 7 was resquatted by a big group of people. The owner had done nothing but let the house getting worse all these years hoping to build luxurious apartments which he didn’t. A perfect example how city government and owners worsen an already bad situation, as explained on this short film. At least since 2007, the owner has done nothing but damaging even more the house.
Some squats in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/NL/squated/squat
Some squats in Amsterdam: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/city/amsterdam/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
https://www.indymedia.nl/node/46008
https://nl.squat.net/tag/wijde-heisteeg-7/
https://radar.squat.net/en/amsterdam/wijde-heisteeg-7
