Death of Hans Kok

In the early 1980s, the Dutch squatters movement was at its peak with thousands of people living in squats; in the capital Amsterdam squatters were involved in events such as the coronation riots and the Vondelstraat riots. The Staatsliedenbuurt, a central district in the west of Amsterdam, was heavily squatted. On Van Beuningenstraat, almost an entire block was occupied and there were self-managed social centres such as De Rioolrat (the Sewer Rat). When Mayor of Amsterdam Ed van Thijn visited the Staatsliedenbuurt in December 1984, he was confronted by 200 squatters on Joan Melchior Kemperstraat, where he was shoved and spat at. When the footage was shown on national television that evening, it caused public outrage which urged a crackdown on the squatters movement. ==Legacy==

Kok's lawyer blamed the police for his death and squatters across the Netherlands reacted with anger: in Amsterdam, there were 40 arson attacks on government and police buildings; in Utrecht windows were smashed; in Nijmegen burning tyres were thrown onto the motorway. In November 1985, Kok's family demanded that the names of the officers who had interacted with him were released and requested the autopsy report. Minister of Justice Frits Korthals Altes said that he could not be sure that the police had behaved within the remit of the law. A year later, Van Thijn decided not to bring charges against three of the prison officers present on the night of Kok's death. After inquiries had investigated, the conclusion was that Kok had died from a combination of factors: the cold cell, alcohol and drug use, tiredness and the failure of officers to check on him. The author A. F. Th. van der Heijden was inspired to write the 1990 novel Advocaat van de Hanen by his death. The following year, the film-maker Barbara den Uyl directed In naam der wet which reconstructed the events surrounding Kok's death. As of 2023, an apartment on the van Hallstraat in the Staatsliedenbuurt cost €675,000. ==See also==