Wassenaar: Possible Ivicke Eviction Within Two Weeks

Update on the hearing of the Provisional Ruling – 15 February 2022

Wassenaar (Netherlands) – Today, there was a hearing at the Raad van State in The Hague, which will decide the future of Huize Ivicke. The villa in Wassenaar that has been squatted for three and a half years is threatened with eviction because the building is officially designated as an office. In a court case on December 20th, the administrative judge in The Hague decided that vacancy was more appropriate than occupation, to which the residents have filed an appeal. To prevent an eviction before the date of the higher appeal, they have applied for a so-called preliminary injunction. This request was heard today by the Raad van State. The lawsuit is between the residents of Ivicke and the municipality of Wassenaar, with the latter wanting an immediate end of the occupation in violation of the zoning plan.

During the ruling on December 20th, the judge hardly considered the interests of the residents. In administrative law it has long been customary that little attention is paid to interests and results of decisions, but rather to the legal aspects of a case. As a result of the “toeslagenaffaire,” however, the Raad van State realised last year that the concrete consequences of their decisions are also somewhat important. [Read More]

Wassenaar: Court Orders Our Ivicktion

Wassenaar (Netherlands) – On Monday Dec 20, Rechtbank Den Haag ruled we must leave Ivicke within six weeks.

We aren’t surprised by this verdict in the owner’s favor, and we won’t just accept it quietly.

The court’s argumentation is that our residency here is in violation of the building’s zoning plan, which designates its use as an office. The judge said he “understands the currently difficult housing market” —does he, really!?—and yet decides to evict for emptiness.

Eviction for emptiness, yes: because there are no concrete plans for Ivicke’s future use. No permits, no costings, no drawings, only Ronnie van de Putte’s word that he wants to use it as an office for his company’s only employee.

This is enough for the judge to claim “ there are no grounds for concluding that the national monument will once again be vacant once the occupants have left.” [Read More]

Amsterdam: Anarcha-Feminst Group squat building on Sint Willibrodrusstraat

New chapter in the zero tolerance policy towards squatting in Amsterdam. In the evening of friday 4 June 2021, many people are taking part in a squatting action in the Pijp. A house is squatted, banners hanged, slogans chanted, fireworks lighted up, a neighborhood letter handed out. Cops are showing up in big numbers, claiming squatters are caught in the act. They want to evict right away. The big group and neighbors are all together pushed away from the area. Later in the evening, riot cops won’t find anybody inside the squatted house which is ending boarded up by a private company. No arrests are reported.

Statement by the Anarcha-Feminst Group Amsterdam:

Today we squatted Sint Willibrodrusstraat 15 owned by ‘evil corp’ Blackstone. This building has been empty for a long time. today we ended this situation of emptiness and speculation by giving the house back its purpose.

Fuck Blackstone, eat the rich!
Stop speculation, squat the world

We are told that there are not enough houses for everyone, that there are not enough spaces for the refugees and migrants coming here fleeing imperialist wars and economies that have been destroyed by (neo)colonialism. It is unacceptable that the media blame migration for the fact that we all seem to struggle to find a home.There is no problem of a lack of space, there is no “housing crisis”, the only problem is the unequal distribution of wealth. The problem is capitalism. [Read More]

Berlin: Køpi Weekend of Protest

Køpi calls for friends and allies from around the world to meet in Berlin on the 15th and 16th of May for a weekend of protest. As Køpiplatz (trailer park) faces the most serious eviction threat to date, Køpi stands united to fight for our homes and families. Køpi has been a DIY project in the heart of Berlin offering living space for people in the house and trailer park for more than 30 years. It also continues to be a home for collectives, events, and creative energy since the day the first door was broken open. We will not give up our way of life for some state backed developers! When the law wants to take our homes away, it’s time to break the law!
The alleged owner of Køpi, Startezia GmbH, is just another example of how our homes and autonomous communities are destroyed by anonymous postbox companies that care only about profit and not about people. Køpiplatz does not face the threat of eviction alone. Other Berlin projects, Potse, Rigaer 94, and Queer Wagenplatz Mollies are also in immediate danger. In the last year alone, crucial left-wing places like Liebig 34, Syndikat, Meuterei, Diesel A, Sabot Garden and G17a have already been evicted. [Read More]

Dijon: Ransacking at l’Engrenage

Very early this Tuesday morning, a police force accompanied by an armada of construction machines was deployed to devastate the land on Avenue de Langres that had been occupied for almost a year.
Several bulldozers, excavators, trucks and the DESERTOT company’s manitou were mobilized to try to put an end to the gardens, as well as loggers who were in charge of cutting down the trees.
The municipality deploys the great means. Flowers, blades of grass, everything goes. The will is clear: nothing must remain of what can look like greenery.
This ransacking operation comes at the beginning of spring, whereas for weeks the gardeners had been working to make this place an open and shared place of passage between the residents.

The house located in the middle of the gardens remains protected by a court decision, and will not be evicted today (unless the cops decide to illegally force their way in). It is thanks to the presence of the inhabitants in this house that the alert was given early in the morning. The call relayed by friendly neighbors allowed people to converge in solidarity from the first minutes. They tried to block the construction machines by overtaking the police force that had just been set up. Some people were thus able to reach the house to defend it, while several others climbed on the roof of the house. [Read More]

Berlin: Køpi taking the threat seriously

Statement – 22.03.2021
Our current situation:

At February 4th we received a formal letter filed in court from Startezia GmbH to vacate the Køpi Wagenplatz (aka Køpiplatz) by February 28th 2021. After more than 20 years, Startezia GmbH thinks they can force us to leave Køpiplatz but of course we have not left, and we are unwilling to give up our homes. Until now the first court date has not been set, but it is definitely coming sooner rather than later. We have been under threat of sale or eviction before, but this time, as gentrification and new construction surround us, we believe the risk to be more serious than ever before. [Read More]

Dijon: Justice orders the eviction of the Engrenage Gardens in 6 months!

Press release from the Engrenage Gardens

Since June 17, 2020, we occupy a wasteland renamed “Les Jardins de l’Engrenage“, avenue de Langres in Dijon, to prevent the real estate development of 307 housing units “Garden State”, which plans the destruction of this precious natural space.
Without ever having visited the land to appreciate its soil qualities and the dynamic life created in the neighborhood, the Mayor of Dijon launched in August 2020 a legal procedure to evict the gardeners and occupants of the house located on the plot. After having pronounced in November 2020 the eviction of the gardens only (still suspended), the Dijon Court of Justice has just rules its judgment this Friday, March 19, 2021 concerning the occupied house: the judge pronounces an eviction order but grants the occupants a 6-month delay to leave the premises.
We take note of this decision: for us, each day, each week, each month gained in this fight against the destruction of nature, is a victory against adversity. Gardeners at the Engrenage, Dijon residents protecting this space, we will take advantage of the next 6 months to root ourselves even more solidly in this land that we take care of, just like the vegetables that will grow there for a new season in the collective vegetable garden and the allotment gardens. [Read More]

Brussels: the municipality chooses repression and lies rather than solidarity

Press release – Solidarity Requisitioning Campaign

On Friday 26th February we wanted to squat the old Pacheco Hospice in the city centre. Our action clearly did not please the municipal politicians – Khalid Zian, president of the CPAS (Centres Publics d’Action Sociale) and Philippe Close, mayor of the City of Brussels – who opted for violent repression rather than negotiation. In the evening, we were bluntly kicked out by the police. 38 people were detained for several hours and will be fined. People were kicked in the head and verbally abused. We wonder where such a strong reaction against a solidarity action that has been rather well received in other municipalities and by the region in recent weeks comes from. Why does the city of Brussels not want to allow the use of a CPAS building that has been empty for 4 years to house people in difficulty?

The CPAS justifies the eviction by the fact that a temporary occupation is currently being considered and that a public call for tenders will soon be launched. Khalid Zian, the president of the CPAS, goes so far as to falsely assert that an occupation for accommodation would have been possible “on condition that it was properly supervised and agreed upon beforehand”. However, the municipal authorities have been approached several times about this building (by the Voice of the Undocumented – la Voix des Sans Papiers – already 2 years ago, by the Region this winter for emergency accommodation) and have each time refused to make the building available. [Read More]

Valencia: Neighborhood of Benimaclet stops the attempt to evict the CSOA l’Horta

Early in the morning the National Police changed the locks and installed anti-occupation doors in the CSOA l’Horta in Benimaclet (Valencia), a fact to which the neighborhood has responded by gathering against the action dictated by the Sareb, according to the collective in defense of the CSOA, which has managed to expel the police operation and reoccupy the center.

The mobile phones of several people woke up this morning with an important message: “Illegal eviction in the CSOA l’Horta. There are police surrounding the space inside and outside. They’ve put up three anti-occupation gates, and they’re using grinders”. The police operation, witnesses say, consisted of about 8 police vans. Through the same media channels, the activist collective called on the neighbourhood to go immediately to the surroundings of the centre. In barely an hour, dozens of people from Benimaclet and other neighbourhoods gathered to oppose the police action that the collective claims is illegal. [Read More]

Dijon: Engrenage Gardens under threat. Vegetables and trees are rooted, they will not leave.

The decision of the Dijon court has confirmed the eviction of the land occupied by the Engrenage Gardens as of November 20. The house is not affected by this decision. Despite the headlines in the local press suggesting that the case is closed, the vegetables are growing, the gardeners are gardening and the walkers are wandering around!

After the October hearing, the court handed down its verdict on November 4. According to the local press (le Bien Public). “The court noted the occupation without right or title of the land located between 45 and 65 avenue de Langres and ordered their eviction within fifteen days if necessary with the help of the police force. The court, however, declared itself incompetent with respect to the occupation of the small house. » [Read More]

Wassenaar: Municipality Wants To Ivickt Us Without A Court Hearing Or A Plan

The mayor and executive board (B&W) of Wassenaar rejected our request to suspend our eviction from Ivicke until at least six weeks after a court has ruled on the case.

After almost two and a half years of our residency at Ivicke during which we have cooperated to ensure the municipality can start essential repairs to the building, the B&W demands we leave without exercising our right to represent our interests in front of a judge, nor with a plan in place for Ivicke’s future use. The B&W says a postponement would neither serve the interests of the owner or the public, though it offers no explanation behind this assertion nor an opinion on our interests as Ivicke’s current residents.

Let’s be clear. The B&W’s eviction order has nothing to do with Ivicke’s repair works. At least, legally speaking. The municipality’s contractors are currently preparing the terrain. Our presence here doesn’t prevent the works from happening. [Read More]

Wassenaar: Villa Ivicke, news from the last six months

Zoning plan, construction works, court proceedings.

A lot has happened in the past six months. In April, the owner started a lawsuit to evict us. And in May, the municipality of Wassenaar imposed an administrative order on both the owner Ronnie van de Putte and us as residents. With this administrative order, the municipality wants to put pressure on the owner to carry out construction works, and on us to leave the building; the latter on the grounds that Ivicke’s zoning plan is not “housing” but “office”.

As the residents of Ivicke, we have filed an appeal against the enforcement of the zoning plan, the hearing was supposed to take place on the 16th of September. However, the case was referred to court, wherefore the hearing was cancelled. We are now waiting for a date for this hearing. In the administrative order, the municipality has marked November 19 as our leaving date. Be that as it may, it is already clear that there won’t be a ruling in this case before said date, but this doesn’t mean that the municipality cannot evict us. For this reason, we have submitted a request to the municipality to suspend the enforcement of the administrative order until the court has ruled whether such enforcement is lawful. [Read More]