The death of a Caribbean man in police custody in the Netherlands has sparked three consecutive days of unrest in an area of The Hague.
Mitch Henriquez, 42, from the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, died from apparent asphyxiation on Sunday. Comparisons have been made to a number of cases in the US where protests have erupted when the police were suspected of the excessive use of force.
More than 60 demonstrators have been arrested since Monday, 34 of them today, Thursday.
The mayor has imposed a rarely used temporary ban on public assembly in the area. No more than three people are allowed to gather in one place and any “dangerous objects” have been outlawed as well as scooters, according to local media.
Police on horseback charged at protestors as unrest continued until about 4am on Thursday. A police statement said the protestors had set fires, thrown bottles and rocks, and smashed shop windows.
Warning shots were fired by police when they were cornered by a group of youth. Riot officers in jeeps rescued the officers.
Henriquez, father of three, was visiting the Netherlands and was arrested at a concert on Saturday for allegedly shouting that he had a gun. He died in hospital on Sunday. He did not have a weapon, investigators said.
Police initially said that he became ill while on his way to jail. But amateur video emerged on Monday which indicated that he was apparently already unconscious after the arrest and before he was taken away in an arrest van.
An autopsy’s preliminary findings indicated that Henriquez died of asphyxiation after being held in a chokehold and pinned down by five white police officers. His death was almost certainly caused by rough police treatment, it said.
The five officers involved in the arrest have been suspended pending results of an investigation.
The Hague police have been criticised before, both by Amnesty International and a 2013 Dutch TV documentary.
