Dutch appeals court maintains curfew

A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday suspended a ruling by a lower court which ordered the government to lift a nationwide coronavirus curfew.

The case was launched by the Viruswaarheid (Virus Truth) group, which has led a series of protests against coronavirus measures in the Netherlands.

A lower court earlier ruled in favour of the activist group, but the government launched an appeal, which will be heard on Friday.

In the meantime, judges on Tuesday night convened an urgent hearing to determine whether the earlier court decision should be enforced ahead of Friday’s appeals hearing.

Judges ruled in favour of the state.

The court wanted to prevent a “yo-yo effect”, one judge said.

“If we as the court don’t grant a suspension, the curfew will be off,” the judge said.

“What happens then if there is a decision in the main case to re-inforce the curfew?” the judge said, referring to Friday’s hearing.

“In this case, the State’s interests weigh more than that of Virus Truth’s,” the judge said, suspending the earlier court decision.