On Monday, we received the verdict in the interim measure court case against the notorious real estate speculator and owner of Ivicke, Ronnie van de Putte aka the Slum Lord, and the municipality of Wassenaar.
The judge denied our request to postpone our eviction until we’ve had a chance to appeal against the ruling of December’s court case. Despite claiming to recognize our interest in having a roof over our heads, and the lack of urgency of both the owner and the municipality to evict, the judge decided we have to leave Ivicke in 3 months.
This verdict is totally contradictory, and justified with reference to bullshit “theoretical” assumptions about the owner and municipality’s interests and intentions.
The municipality’s supposed interest is to adhere to administrative regulations regarding the building’s zoning plan, which designates Ivicke as an office. Their real interest though is to have the monument they just spent one million euros restoring on behalf of the owner “empty and presentable” since we “don’t fit the image of Wassenaar.”
They are hiding behind an administrative technicality and an appeal to the “public interest” to justify our eviction for emptiness. Clearly, this impacts us severely, but it’s also not in the interest of the building they claim to care so much about.
The owner, meanwhile, plays his games and pretends he will renovate the interior and use Ivicke as an office for his only employee. We, and anyone who knows anything about the owner, understand this is total bullshit.
Still, the judge ignores the owner’s history and the complete lack of a concrete plan or permit applications, and decides it’s “theoretically” possible to just put a desk inside and call it an office. (And here we thought the table-bed-chair policy only applied to squatters!)
We know these “plans” will never be realised, and that Ivicke’s destination will be what it’s been for decades: continued vacancy and neglect, now enforced by the administrative and legal system.
We’re still awaiting the verdict in our civil case against the owner on March 16, which should determine whether his plans are realistic and feasible. Yet no matter the outcome of this case, we’ll still be ivicktable.
But we’ll continue fighting for our home, and against speculation and all evictions!
We don’t want to get bummed out by yet another bullshit verdict in a squatting case. Instead, let’s get angry and make the most of the time that remains here.
We thank everyone who has supported us so far. We want to continue to build on the momentum and energy of the broader housing struggle over the past few months. Join us, look out for future announcements, and contact us with ideas of your own!
We don’t budge for the rich! Squatting continues!