Hague bans rally vs lockdown on health grounds

Security authorities in The Hague have banned a planned protest against coronavirus restrictions, saying the demonstration Sunday forms a threat to public health The city's mayor, Johan Remkes, wrote Friday that the planned event originally was to have drawn about 100 people but changes to the program to include performances by DJs have effectively turned it into a festival that could attract up to 10,000.

Security authorities in The Hague have banned a planned protest against coronavirus restrictions, saying the demonstration Sunday forms a threat to public health

The city's mayor, Johan Remkes, wrote Friday that the planned event originally was to have drawn about 100 people but changes to the program to include performances by DJs have effectively turned it into a festival that could attract up to 10,000. Such large-scale events are banned until Sept. 1 under the government's coronavirus measures.

Remkes says in a statement that the right to demonstrate in public is important, "but it is not unlimited." He adds that the event as planned for Sunday in the city's large Malieveld park would create "an illegal and dangerous situation." Organizers called the event to protest the government's lockdown measures.