----------------------------------------------
|
From: Vince . (v1nce@dr.com) Date: 21 Jul 2001 18:06 uur
The following is another report of recent events:
Three squatters were let go from a police station in Rotterdam Noord at about 16:00 yesterday. They had arrested them around 02:00 on the night before. The reason? They tried to squat a house (empty for years) and were caught before it was done.
As you may have read in our last report the cops in Rotterdam are generally quite easy going. Not so yesterday. This is what happened:
The squatters started breaking open the door a bit before 01:00 (in hindsight this was too early… a good lesson). The door proved to be extremely difficult to break open despite using two large crowbars. The reason for this is the fact that the door was very flexible, the lock was good and there was a huge pile of junkmail behind the door. Even after the lock had given -which took too long, almost half an hour- the door had be pushed very hard to get it to budge, because all the mail was blocking it.
Unfortunately we damaged the door considerably. The table, chair and bed had just been put inside the old lock was being removed, when two police vans drove up. The door was quickly pushed shut and held. One cop then shouted 'open the door, now!' One of the squatters said, 'no, this house is squatted.' Then a cop gave the door a shove or a kick, causing the door to hit one of the squatters in the back. A arm reached in and grabbed one of them, then forcibly threw him in to the street. After this the cops separated the three and started asking them what they were doing. An explanation followed. They filth (politzei) was high-strung and told the squatters that they were under arrested for attempted burglary, trespassing and destruction of property. Another police van showed up, but quickly left.
They drove the three down to the station in two different vans. Once there they split them up. All their belongings were taken away, they had to undress and got put in different temporary cells. During all this time the fuzz (kkkops) kept asking questions. They were very interested in names and other details. None were given. After about an hour they returned and told the squatters that they were going to keep them for quite some time. One of them even said they could keep them almost indefinitely. The three knew this was bullshit of course. After being transferred to a proper cell (steel door, steel toilet, bed with mattress, table and bench) they gave them some food and some tea.
Soon the public prosecutor (OVJ) came in and informed the three that they would have to stay for up to three days and perhaps longer, especially if they continued to refuse to give their details. He also said they were entitled to a lawyer.
In the morning the public prosecutor returned, same old story. Then the three had to talk to two detectives who gave them the "do what is best for yourself and cooperate" speech. They detectives were told that the squatters did not consider what they had done a crime and so had nothing to answer for. So they had no reason why they should tell them anything and that they had nothing else to say to them. During these short talks I think they realized the three knew their rights quite well. This did not stop the pigs from trying to intimidate them by exaggerating the possible consequences. It also did not stop them from trying to divide them, trying to get them to rat on each other. They agreed with the three that they were not criminals.
They even said they understood their reasons for squatting, but then said that they had to do their job. The police informed the three that if they did not cooperate and give their names that they had the power to get their fingerprints and pictures by force.
Soon two very large cops and a forensic technician (takes your fingerprints) came into the cells. The person who said he would not cooperate sat down on the floor of his cell. One very large copper then pulled him up and twisted his arm behind his back. The cops then took him to have his prints and pics taken, all the time twisting his arm. Once there the guy shut his eyes, twisted his face and tried to look away from the camera. The cops then held him down, yanked his hair and pushed his head so he would face the camera. They did not get any normal pictures of him fortunately. The guy also tried to resist the fingerprints, smudging them so they were unclear. The cops kept twisting his arm, so eventually he gave up. He felt there was no point in getting his arm broken. They were going to get his prints one way or the other. He did tell them he thought they were wasting time and money. The cops agreed, but then replied their slave/robot defense: 'It's the law', 'It's our job', 'Why don't you cooperate?'.
One of the three could not afford to remain in his cell for three days. He gave his name and other details. Soon after they let us all go…The guy who gave his name will probably get a fine. In the end (like always) giving his details was probably a mistake. They now have his details, AND pictures AND fingerprints! This just proves the golden rule "Never Say Anything!!" Don't believe their lies, don't fall for their tricks and chances are you will be set free in a relatively short period of time without any grave consequences.
As it turned out they quickly dropped the 'burglary' charge. The squatters had complained about this charge earlier on. They had argued that they could not burgle an empty house, what were they supposed to steal? The floorboards?!
I always used to think; that Dutch cops are quite ok, particularly Rotterdam ones. After hearing this I have changed my mind. I realized (again) that when it comes down to it they don't think for themselves. Even though they may (pretend to) understand why you do something they won't let you go unless you give your name and criminalize yourself. They will hurt you so you cooperate despite thinking it is not really right. They will do it because it is their job and their job is to follow the law. So yes, potentially all cops are bastards! In Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, everywhere…!
We will continue squatting, and were just going to try harder.
Red Rover
--
|