Marieke Liem in RTL News about the Explosive Increase in Violence with Illegal Hand Grenades
Marieke Liem, Associate Professor, at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, was interviewed by RTL Nieuws on Tuesday morning 27 August about the increase in violence with illegal hand grenades in the Netherlands.
More incidents have been registered in the past year and a half than in the ten years before. Researchers from Leiden University found a total of 117 incidents in the past 11 years. No deadly attacks with grenades have yet been reported. According to Liem, the Netherlands is get ‘luckily’ away with it. ‘We see, for example, that there is vast increase in hand grenade violence in Sweden and there have indeed been deaths. Including bystanders. If the trend continues, one would expect that there will ultimately also be fatalities here.’
Amsterdam
It is remarkable that almost one third of the 117 incidents took place in Amsterdam. According to the municipality, these problems have taken on a structural character. ‘These incidents have a major impact on the affected entrepreneurs, but they also pose a danger to local residents and passers-by.’
No concrete explanation was found for the explosive increase in violence with illegal hand grenades.