Waar: Swamp, Gelderlantlaan 4, Utrecht, Netherlands (GPS lat: 52.056153 lon: 5.105037)
Wanneer: 02/11/2018 - 09:57
Support the Swamp! The eviction of the Swamp has started.
It won't be that easy. The Swamp will resist.
Lock ons and a monopot tower await the cops. Come to the swamp and support!
Timeline:
07.00h: workers from Borghese open the fence that separates the swamp from the neighbors field.
09.30h: Police vans arrive to the field. Eight cops entered the terrain and a bailiff started to walk around asking people to leave.
10.00h: The first arrest police van arrived.
10.20h: Five people have been found inside of the Swamp, the bailiff hopes there's no one else in places hard to access or hiding.
10.30h: "If people are hidding is their own risk if we run over them with a bulldozer" said the bailiff. Trees start to be cut. Bratra has been called and its on its way. So far five people have been found.
11.15h: Trees keep on being cut very close by to older and bigger treescreen which need a permit to be cut. The Swamp support team calls the province to inform about the situation and file a complaint. The province claims that they cannot do anything about it and they will pass the message to the municipality.
11.54h: The diggers keep on cutting trees at the field. Houses are being destroyed too. Smoke bombs stopped them for a moment but they keep on advancing.
12.00h: Bratra has arrived and are walking into the Swamp.
12.30h: Seven people have been found inside.
13.20h: The bratra is starting to evict the tree house. They had trouble with their own ladder.
13.35h: They are cutting the bottom of the 10min high monopot tower where four people are locked. Everyone locked to the structure has been put in danger.
14.10h: The bratra reached the monopot tower. They used a digger to get up to the top. They are preparing their tools to evict.
14.25h: The person standing at the top of the monopot with a neck lock on has been arrested. The tree house platform is still standing.
15.42h: The swamp team called the municipality and complained about the cutting of the trees and they said they will send handhaving to inspect the situation. Trees that need permits have been cut illegally. The handhaving that is present at the eviction apparently is not the handhaving that take care of infractions and violations.
15.48h: The tree house has been evicted and the person in the lock on has been transported to the bushes on a digger and is being arrested.
16.18h: They came to evict the lock on in a house on the back of the terrain. The diggers started to overheat and smoke came out. The police came where people were cheering for the people inside and accused us of throwing smoke bombs. Police on horses pushed people and asked us to leave.
17.00h: It's getting dark. There's still one person in a lock on on the rooof of a house in the back. So far, 5 people have been arrested.
19.30h: All 7 of the people who were locked-on inside the terrain have been cut out and arrested. They will most likely be taken to the detention centre in Houten, where they can be held for up to 3 days. After this they will either be set free or, if the charges are severe, be sent in front of a judge who will decide if they have to be transferred to prison.
10.30: "if people are hidding is their own risk if we run over them with a bulldozer" said the bailiff. Trees start to be cut.
Bratra has been called and its on its way. So far five people have been found.
11.15: trees keep on being cut very close by to older and bigger treescreen which need a permit to be cut.
The Swamp support team calls the province to inform about thethe situaction and put a complaint.
11.30h:
11.54h: the diggers keep on cutting trees at the field. Houses are being destroyed too. Smoke bombs stopped them for a moment but they keep on advancing.
12.00h: Bratra has arrived and are walking into the Swamp.
Politie ontruimt gekraakt terrein Westraven; krakers ketenen zich vast aan huizen
https://www.rtvutrecht.nl/nieuws/1834521/
VIDEO: Politie ontruimt gekraakt terrein Westraven; krakers ketenen zich vast aan huizen, https://www.rtvutrecht.nl/nieuws/1834521/
https://www.duic.nl/algemeen/gekraakt-terrein-kanaleneiland-wordt-ontruimd/
AD: politie ontruimt verblijven krakers bij P+R Westraven
https://www.ad.nl/utrecht/politie-ontruimt-verblijven-krakers-bij-p-r-we...
foto's + audioverslag
12.30h:seven people have been found inside.
4 people have been found in a 10min highave monopot tower. All four are in lock ons. The person on the top is locked to the neck.
1 person at a tree house in a lock on.
1 person in a caravan in a lock on.
1 person on the roof of a house in a lock on.
13.20h: the bratra is starting to evict the tree house. They had trouble with their own ladder.
13.35h: they are cutting the bottom of the 10min high monopot tower where four people are locked. Everyone locked to the structure has been put in danger.
14.10h: the bratra reached the monopot tower. They used a digger to get up to the top. They are preparing their tools to evict.
14.25h: the person standing at the top of the monopot with a neck lock on has been arrested.
The tree house platform is still standing.
15.42h: the swamp team called the municipality and complained about the cutting of the trees and they said they will send handhaving to inspect the situation. Trees that need permits have been cut illegally. The handhaving that is present at the eviction apparently is not the handhaving that take care of infractions and violations.
15.48: the tree house has been evicted and the person in the lock on has been transported to the bushes on a digger and is being arrested.
16.18h: They came to evict the lock on in a house on the back of the terrain. The diggers started to overheat and smoke came out. The police came where people were cheering for the people inside and accused us of throwing smoke bombs. Police on horses pushed people and asked us to leave.
17.00h: it's getting dark. There's still one person in a lock on on the rooof of a house in the back. So far, 5 people have been arrested.
We have no news from the person locked tothe caravan.
People are still welcome to pass by and support.
19.30h: All 7 of the people who were locked-on inside the terrain have been cut out and arrested. They will most likely be taken to the detention centre in Houten, where they can be held for up to 3 days. After this they will either be set free or, if the charges are severe, be sent in front of a judge who will decide if they have to be transferred to prison.
The construction workers have, under the supervision of the police, torn a great number of trees out by their roots with heavy machinary. In the upcoming weeks the deforestation of the terrain will continue. The soil will all be removed and the construnction of the upcoming bus depot and distribution centre will begin.
This terrain was previously one of the last remaining green spaces within the city of Utrecht, a diverse young forest, and for the last 5 years home to a number of people, and an enjoyable and inspiring place for countless others. Although this space is about to be torn apart, the idea which it represents will go on. The inhabitants have already squatted another terrain elsewhere in the city, and are well underway with creating a new space which continues and builds upon the same ideas as The Swamp.
The Swamp is dead! Long live The Swamp.
Updates, photos and videos will keep coming on this website, and atour blog, over the following days.
swampsolidarity.wordpress.com
Yesterday night 6 of the people arrested were released with charges of trespassing and ignoring a police order.
This morning the last person arrested was released.
Thank you all your your support. Swamp's not dead.
Partij voor de Dieren vraagt om opheldering illegale bomenkap bij The Swamp
https://www.duic.nl/algemeen/partij-voor-de-dieren-vraagt-om-opheldering...