Det gäller att förtjäna sin frihet, som sagt...

The Dutch state was taken down a peg today after The Hague court ruled that the government’s coronavirus pandemic curfew had no legal basis, describing the restrictions as an infringement on people’s rights.

In a statement, the court declared that the government’s use of the Extraordinary Powers of Civil Authority Act – an emergency act granting the state powers to impose curfews in “very urgent and exceptional circumstance”’ – was not justified by the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, concluding: “the use of this law to impose curfew is not legitimate.”

Under the curfew which has been in place since January 23, Dutch citizens have been forbidden from leaving their homes without a reasonable excuse between the hours of 9pm and 4:30am.

The curfew sparked three nights of rioting across the Netherlands last month, resulting in car burnings, lootings, and hundreds of arrests.

The Hague’s ruling came after a human rights organization known as the Virus Truth Foundation successfully filed a lawsuit arguing against the curfew.