Cameras installed in Amsterdam’s Floradorp after unrest

Cameras have been installed in Floradorp, Amsterdam-Noord, after several evenings of unrest linked to a rejected plan for a New Year’s Eve celebration. The surveillance will remain in place until 7 January, according to ANP, carried by Nieuws.nl.

Mayor Femke Halsema ordered the measure with immediate effect. Police were pelted with stones and fireworks during the disturbances, and riot police intervened to end them, ANP reported.

Residents had proposed making a large fire in a container as an alternative to the neighbourhood’s annual open bonfire. Amsterdam’s mayor, police and public prosecution service had already banned the open fire because of the risks. Experts also judged a container fire unsafe, the report said.

The unrest began a week before the camera decision, after residents were told Halsema had rejected their alternative celebration plan. Earlier, a 22-year-old man was sentenced over unrest in Floradorp after admitting to throwing items into a fire. A 22-year-old man was sentenced after unrest in Floradorp.