30th October 2009, 15:00
Gathering in front of the Dutch Embassy in Gotthardská Street, no. 6/27 in Prague, organized by the collective of Truhlarska and the Anarchist Federation.
To show solidarity with Dutch squatters, who are facing a ban on squatting.
Truhlarska Collective and CSAF
Last Thursday [oct. 15th 2009] the Dutch parliament has passed a new law making squatting a felony. Only the senate still has to vote on it’s passing now.
However, with a rightwing majority, odds are effectively january 1st all squats in the Netherlands will be up for eviction. This will mark the end of an era, a carte blanche for the destruction of our social centers and infrastructure. Not to mention the criminalisation of thousands of people suffering from the housing shortage, for whom squatting has always been a legal means of acquiring a roof over their heads.
An occupation of parliament square during the voting ended with riot cops charging into the tent camp and arresting about one hundred people. Photo’s can be seen on http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/2009/10/62251.shtml (during the day) and http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/2009/10/62308.shtml(the eviction).
15.10.2009 – 22:47
A blend of right wingers and christian democrats have managed to push through a ban on squatting, instead of a ban on emptiness. How fucked up is that?
Squatting has been banned in the Netherlands. Fuck know what this means in practise for the thousands of established squats.
The vote passed today in the Tweede Kamer (House of Commons) and will no doubt be ratified by the Eerste Kamer (House of Lords equivalent).
80-100 squatters have been arrested already in Den Haag outside the Parliament.
It could get a lot more heavy.
Next tuesday the Dutch parliament will vote on a proposal to make squatting in the Netherlands more difficult. The proposal was made by Christian Democrat Ten Hoopen and is aimed against ‘criminal organisations who squat buildings to have parties’. Ten Hoopen proposed this to the parliament with a right wing majority after ten years of silence on the subject of squatting on national political level.
According to Ten Hoopen the squatters profit from free electricity and they make life more difficult for real estate owners. In an interview he said he wanted all squatting to be illegal. The next few days he got loads of counter arguments in the main stream media and it became clear he didn’t know what he was talking about. Even his colleage from the Christian Democrat party ‘CDA’ responsible for housing issues said he didn’t want to talk about making squatting in general illegal and preferred making plans against the housing shortage.
