{"id":3962,"date":"2013-11-14T11:03:13","date_gmt":"2013-11-14T11:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=3962"},"modified":"2013-11-14T11:03:13","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T11:03:13","slug":"amsterdam-charged-but-not-guilty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=3962","title":{"rendered":"Amsterdam. Charged, But Not Guilty"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CarlJunglebhoy brings the local story on the Amsterdam fracas….<\/p>\n

I’ve lived in Amsterdam since 1980, but been Sellic daft all my life: I saw my first match at age 4 from the Jungle in 1959 (calculator handy?!).\u00a0 I\u2019ve worked for some considerable time (cough) for The World\u2019s Largest Selling Weekly News Magazine, \u2018though not actually as a journalist.<\/p>\n

After the 1st<\/sup> leg at Celtic Park, I challenged the Amsterdam local TV\/Media group AT5 on a story which had the ludicrous headline \u201cAjax fans the best away fans ever\u201d attributed to an unnamed \u201cCeltic official\u201d, and sent them links to stories showing all the trouble they\u2019d caused in Glasgow before and during the match. I had a heated debate (in Dutch) with Ajax fans about this, but gave up when they stubbornly kept coming up with excuses claiming everything was due to provocation by Celtic fans. However, fair dues to AT5 – They immediately replaced that story with 2 new ones showing the true story\/other side of the coin, and even took the trouble to tweet their thanks for the tips.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.at5.nl\/artikelen\/113467\/ajaxfans-gooiden-met-stoeltjes<\/a> – which contains a link to the original story \u2026and\u2026.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.at5.nl\/artikelen\/113491\/schotse-politie-onderzoekt-gedrag-ajax-aanhang<\/a><\/p>\n

The exchange of tweets I had with AT5 about this on 23 Oct are on Twitter \u00a0@CarlJungleBhoy<\/p>\n

Now, it would be disingenuous of me not to make it absolutely clear from the start that this summary of the Amsterdam “trouble” \u00a0is not <\/i>actually <\/i>based on personal , first hand, eyewitness evidence.\u00a0 – My son and I deliberately avoided going into the centre of town – which is what I’ve done every time Celtic have come to Holland for the last xx years (even if only for friendlies),\u00a0 because our instincts were telling us it could turn nasty. So, we ended up going straight to the ArenA and straight back home afterwards \u2013 and were in no mood after the match for talking or doing anything.<\/p>\n

Now, let me be clear. I\u2019m not condoning the action of those Celtic fans throwing bottles etc., but the reason things got out of hand is very simple: The Amsterdam authorities \u2013 and in particular the police specialist hooligan units \u2013 got their tactics totally and completely wrong! If they\u2019d done their job properly by targeting and clamping down on the root cause of the problem \u2013 those hard core Ajax fans everybody knew were determined to cause trouble \u2013 this would not have happened. \u2013 Unless they were fast asleep for the 2 weeks running up to the match, they certainly had the intelligence and more than enough warning signs that major trouble was brewing \u2013 the poisonous atmosphere was tangible on every Ajax fan site \u2013 So what did they do? : Order up more police vans & put more riot squad units on standby.<\/p>\n

The fact that this Ajax mob \u2013 I lost count at 80 \u2013 entirely escaped their notice in the most heavily policed part of the city on the relatively quiet Tuesday night before the match, reeks of total bloody incompetence (This was –\u00a0 as far as I can determine – the original 1st<\/sup> port of call for this footage) :-<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.geenstijl.nl\/mt\/archieven\/2013\/11\/hooligans_breken_020_af.html<\/a><\/p>\n

It also shows just what a bunch of cowardly, little shitbags these Ajax fans are \u2013 it was like a mob-handed version of the \u201dring the bell – squoosh\u201d game I played as a kid \u2013 but it is indicative of the type of incident & invective which sparked the trouble on the Wednesday.\u00a0 I could show you countless quotes that same night\u2013 even on reputable Dutch news websites – which illustrate this mentality (emphasis on mental):\u00a0 \u201cCeltic fans have been mouthing off for weeks\u00a0they got what they deserved\u201d \u2026 \u201cthey get\u00a0hit and now they go running away crying\u201d \u2013 all of them blaming Celtic fans for stirring things up and displaying Ajax fans bravado on \u201cshowing who\u2019s boss\u201d in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n

On the day of the match, the Burgemeester\u00a0 (Mayor) of Amsterdam,\u00a0 Eberhard Van der Laan, used his powers to issue a \u201cnoodbevel\u201d \/ a special emergency order, authorizing police to arrest anyone they suspected might be a danger to public order. Curiously, local news reports at the time suggest this was NOT aimed at Celtic fans, but fans of other clubs also expected to congregate in the centre of Amsterdam: This is a direct translation \u2013 see the heading \u201cNoodbevel\u201d from the Dutch newspaper Het Parool\u2019s online pages below- \u201c<\/i>The noodbevel applies to supporters of the German club St. Pauli and the Belgian club Anderlecht and supporters of Dinamo Zagreb who have no ticket and are located in the capital<\/i> \u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0 :-<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.parool.nl\/parool\/nl\/224\/BINNENLAND\/article\/detail\/3540160\/2013\/11\/06\/Charges-op-supporters-Ajax-en-Celtic-uitgevoerd.dhtml<\/a><\/p>\n

So, instead of concentrating their energies in providing a protective ring around those Celtic fans gathering in Dam square before the match, keeping an eye out for small groups joining from the various side-streets \u2013 which would have been do-able with visible back-up from the local regular uniformed police on the street corners leading to the square, what did the specialist police decide to do? They thought it would be much more clever (\/fun?) to infiltrate the Celtic fans undercover in large numbers \u2013 conveniently ignoring the fact that with tensions already strung tight, small crowds of plain clothes cops either silent or whispering under their collars in Dutch, was hardly likely to deflate tensions \u2013 and then rely on the M.E (=Mobile Eenheid\u00a0 \/\u00a0 Riot Police), including their mounted divisions, plus an increased number of police van units, with even more on standby, to handle things if\/when trouble broke out.<\/p>\n

The incident which sparked things off was also totally predictable. Everybody knew the Ajax hard core were livid about getting one of their flags stolen (& waved at them upside down) 2 weeks earlier at Celtic Park. Their fan websites were all rife with messages swearing revenge, which surely couldn\u2019t have escaped the notice of the police\u2019s so-called, \u201cintelligence\u201d officers? Sure, you can argue a case that it was foolish of Celtic fans to go chasing after Ajax fans who stole their flag, but let\u2019s be honest. – If you had a drink in you and some wee shit nicked your flag would you stand still and grin and bear it? Bearing in mind what had happened the previous night and the warnings \u2013 even from the official Celtic site \u2013 to be on their guard \u2013 it\u2019s hardly surprising Celtic fans retaliated against those in their midst with Dutch accents (and the absence of Celtic colours), is it? How were they supposed to tell the difference between an undercover cop and an Ajax casual intent on stirring things up? In the circumstances, if you saw a fellow Tim surrounded by and kicking out against blokes in plain clothes, would you immediately assume he was a hooligan deservedly getting arrested by undercover cops?\u00a0 I don\u2019t seenk so!<\/p>\n

When I first found out what had happened I was absolutely beeling. I mailed an old mate of mine in Glasgow who I knew had been at the Dam (he\u2019ll also be at St Mary\u2019s on Saturday!!) – He\u2019d actually phoned me earlier in the week suggesting we get together for a bevvy, but , as I knew I was going to have to work all of last week until after 5, and planning to go home to eat first then straight to the<\/p>\n

match with my son, I \u201crainchecked\u201d on that. I didn\u2019t actually see him at the match either, but that\u2019s another story. Anyway, it was him who gave me the gist about what happened, and after checking this out in all sorts of directions (I\u2019m pretty fluent in Dutch), this suggested a very different course of events from what the Scottish MSM were keen to trumpet. This included confirmation from the local newspaper het Parool that, of the 44 people arrested in the centre of Amsterdam, 16 were Ajax fans (see last paragraph below ) :-<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.parool.nl\/parool\/nl\/4\/AMSTERDAM\/article\/detail\/3541571\/2013\/11\/08\/Vier-Celtic-fans-vrij-twee-nog-vast.dhtml<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m not really sure what\u2019s reached the public in the UK, but the following piece of film \u2013 first uploaded by Dutch Ultras – shows plain clothes undercover agents kicking the shit out of Celtic fans and is a really critical piece in understanding the chronology of events. This also backs ups what I\u2019d heard from my mate who was on the Dam.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4-k–IWFBIg<\/a><\/p>\n

But, don\u2019t just take my word for it \u2013 I admit to being biased. This is how a Dutch Ultras website \u2013 the ones who uploaded that film to You tube – actually described the incidents which sparked the \u201criot\u201d.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/voetbalultras.wordpress.com\/2013\/11\/08\/undercover-agent-riep-pak-slaag-over-zich-af-actie-reactie\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday the media were full of reports about the outrageous and brutal way in which a group of Celtic supporters in the heart of Amsterdam chased an undercover cop until he ran onto a lamppost,\u00a0fell to the ground, then, after being set upon by a horde of angry Scottish hooligans, ended up in hospital.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cBut sometimes the nuances are hidden under the media\u2019s sensationalism. They\u2019d much rather show hooligans misbehaving than the dubious actions of the agents themselves. Just before that agent was chased, there was another incident which the <\/i>(<\/i>Dutch mainstream TV program -CJB)<\/i> Hart Van Nederland would be less keen to show. This mistreatment happened just before an agent went nuts on a defenseless prisoner and kept kicking the boy . And you can also ask the question whether even that arrest was justified. – Shortly before that, Ajax fans had a stolen a flag from Celtic supporters who went chasing after it. The police then seized the thief by his throat, which caused an unbelievable uproar and caused confusion and alarm among the Celtic supporters. If the police had let the thief get away,\u00a0 it\u2019s possible the riot that followed could have been avoided <\/i>(<that\u2019s the ultra\u2019s speaking, not me! \u2013 CJB) – On the square at that time there were only\u00a0” hats and scarves” (normal supporters , not hooligans ) of Celtic present. The police then began to charge into the Celtic supporters, unprovoked, and started arresting them, during which 1 detainee was brutally tortured by the undercover agent people. Celtic Football Club is asking for an investigation into the police violence and the outrageous way the city of Amsterdam has received her guests.\u201d<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Now, if that\u2019s how Dutch Ultras \u2013 who are not exactly pro-Celtic \u2013 describe it, surely there\u2019s no doubt that fall of that undercover cop was the first step in a domino-effect like chain of events, from which Celtic fans were part of the reaction\/effect, but definitely not the cause? Is it any wonder that immediately after all this had gone down that bottles were thrown , then riot police led charges into the crowds? So, whilst some Celtic fans are hardly totally blameless, many were clearly victims here. \u2013 BTW. Anybody who lives in Amsterdam will tell you that the M.E (riot police) \u2013 once on standby- are always itching to get in there and \u2013 once deployed \u2013 are indiscriminate about who they hurt. Also worth noting is that in their day jobs the M.E. are just normal cops who\u2019ve undergone special riot training, so the undercover units were also their colleagues. \u2013Their orders were to separate rival fan groups and disperse the crowds from the Dam \u2013 which they did successfully – \u00a0but causing even more disorder than before things started!<\/p>\n

On that point, I also phoned an ex-colleague of mine \u2013 An Ajax fan who works in local radio, and asked him what he\u2019d heard about it. According to him, there was a rumour going round that a number of people \u2013 including the Burgemeester himself,\u00a0 plus a senior police officer in Den Haag – have been asking for explanation from the Amsterdam police on how things managed to get out of hand so quickly, and apparently have even had a \u201dpost-mortem\u201d meeting. \u00a0I\u2019ve also emailed V\/D Laan myself in Dutch, sharing what I\u2019ve heard and making my own feelings known, but I\u2019ve not had a reply yet.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be surprised if the Dutch police own up to having made a total balls of things, but nevertheless it\u2019s pretty clear to many people \u2013 even here in Amsterdam \u2013 that much of the blame for what\u2019s happened, and the untold damage it\u2019s done to Celtic supporters reputation, can be placed firmly at their door.<\/p>\n

The simple fact is the trouble was not started by Celtic fans. It\u2019s also conveniently forgotten that the instigators \u2013 a small group of Ajax fans (+\/- 12 I hear) were also arrested in Dam Square. Sure, far too many Celtic fans (over)-reacted violently to the heavy handed police tactics needed to keep a lid on things \u2013 the M.E (riot police) were sent in by the specialist units to break things up, but only after the undercover units had already ballsed things up big time. \u00a0They got it very \u00a0badly wrong. However you choose to paint it, the root cause of the problem \u2013 and much of the blame \u2013 lies not with the Celtic fans, but the police & authorities who, with their totally misjudged tactics, failed to offer Celtic fans proper protection, exacerbated the situation by ramping up the tension and actually served to fan the flames, rather than douse out the sparks before they could ignite. I realise this comparison is stretching things a bit too far, but a deliberate policy of blaming everything on the fans, to cover up all their own faults, isn\u2019t exactly new in the world of policing , now is it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u00a0 CarlJunglebhoy brings the local story on the Amsterdam fracas…. I’ve lived in Amsterdam since 1980, but been Sellic daft all my life: I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Lies-1.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-11U","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3962"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3964,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3962\/revisions\/3964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}