Amsterdam’s mayor and local police have agreed to let a demonstration against the coronavirus rules go ahead on Sunday, but warn they will intervene if protestors do not stick to agreements.

The Olympic Stadium area, Oosterpark and Westerpark, where protestors will gather before marching to Museumplein, have been designated as ‘at risk locations’, allowing police to stop and search anyone entering the areas.

This, mayor Femke Halsema said in a press release, is because police are concerned groups of troublemakers will bring weapons and fireworks to the demonstration, and measures are needed to ensure the safety of peaceful demonstrators.

The protest has been organised by campaign group Nederland in Verzet which says it plans to ‘meet to drink coffee’ on the Museumplein to remember the riots of January 17, 2021, which ended in 240 arrests nationwide.

The organisation, which expects between 25,000 and 50,000 people to take part, has ‘distanced itself’ from people who attend purely to cause trouble, the mayor said.

On January 2, some 30 people were also arrested in Amsterdam, after thousands of people turned up for a demonstration which had been banned by the council, because of public order concerns.