Iran slams Dutch police assault on pregnant wife of Palestinian man, demands accountability
Iran has strongly condemned a violent assault by Dutch police against the pregnant wife of a Palestinian man, calling on authorities in the Netherlands to investigate the incident and hold those responsible to account.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei reacted on Monday to a video circulated by Al Jazeera showing a Dutch police officer forcefully throwing a pregnant woman to the ground and dragging her during the arrest of her Palestinian husband.
"This is utterly brutal and outrageous. There is no excuse for Dutch police violently assaulting a pregnant woman simply because she wanted to stay with her detained PALESTINIAN husband," he wrote.
The Iranian spokesperson urged Dutch officials to launch a thorough investigation into such a clear violation of human rights and hold the perpetrators accountable.
"The Dutch authorities must ensure full accountability for this blatant human rights violation. Such incidents indicate systemic bias & discrimination within their law enforcement," he added.
This is utterly brutal and outrageous. There is no excuse for Dutch police violently assaulting a pregnant woman simply because she wanted to stay with her detained PALESTINIAN husband.
The incident, which took place on May 19 in the Dutch town of Zeist, gained public attention over the weekend after videos emerged online showing a police officer forcefully pulling a heavily pregnant woman by the arm, causing her to fall to the ground.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, the woman's husband was taken into custody after allegedly damaging a television upon receiving news of a relative's death in Gaza. The woman said her husband had cooperated respectfully with police and that she was forcibly restrained and thrown to the ground after requesting permission to accompany him.
The Al Jazeera report said that the woman went into early labor as a result of her trauma, and later gave birth to a baby girl ahead of schedule.
While neither the mother nor the newborn reportedly suffered serious injuries, the incident has sparked scrutiny and renewed questions over the conduct of the police officers involved.
A statement by a spokesperson for Dutch police said the department “will carefully examine all the facts and circumstances,” which also includes assessing the force used by officers.
“We need to look at what happened there and in what order,” the police statement said.