Veldhoven Mayor's cancelling of YPFDJ Eritrean conference unlawful: Independent commission

 Jack Mikkers, Mayor of the municipality of Veldhoven, Netherlands 

Article was translated from Dutch using online software

Mayor Jack Mikkers van Veldhoven could not ban a conference of Eritrean youth in Koningshof in April this year, according to the objection committee.

By Manon van den Brekel | ED

According to the members of the committee, the mayor of Veldhovene "did not make every effort" in seeking other solutions. They advise the mayor to revoke his decision. But Mikkers lays that advice aside: he insists that he has taken the right decision.

At the beginning of April, the YPFDJ, an organisation associated with the Eritrean government, organised a meeting at the Koningshof conference Centre in Veldhoven. More than 120 refugees from Eritrea demonstrated at the gates of Koningshof against this meeting. When riots broke out, Mikkers banned the conference.

Disorders

The Committee members agree with the mayor that 'serious disorders' took place. According to them, the fear of more disorders was also justified and intervention was therefore necessary. However, according to the objections committee, this does not mean that the conference could be banned, all the more because the disorder was not caused by conference goers but by others.

The mayor already indicated that, according to him, there were simply not enough policemen available to guard the entire site of Koningshof, but according to the objections of the Committee, Madhavan does not sufficiently substantiate that assertion.

In an attempt to do so, Mikkers writes that both Koningshof and the police were indicating that they could not guarantee the safety of the conference attendees and the demonstrators. After the protesters were arrested ' the police asked me explicitly to make use of my emergency powers and to ban the conference ', writes the mayor.

Compensation

Conference guests have requested compensation. However, the Objections committee does not rule on this. The mayor must take a stand on this subject, in the opinion of the committee. Therefore, Mikkers does so directly in his writing: he rejects the compensation.

The opponents are now open to the court. "It's up to my clients to decide if we are going to court now," lawyer Bart-Jan Walraven responds. He represents the conference goers. " I think it is very likely that we do."

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