Black DJ arrested after unwittingly driving behind Dutch princess’s car
A black radio DJ was arrested at gunpoint after inadvertently driving behind a car transporting a Dutch princess.
Serginio Piqué and his three friends claimed that ethnic profiling was to blame after being stopped by armed police in the Belgian city of Antwerp, ordered out of their car and forced to kneel on the ground.
“So many things go through your mind. You start to wonder if there was perhaps ethnic profiling involved. That is a feeling that every person of colour experiences when they are wrongfully stopped,” he said.
He had driven from Amsterdam to Antwerp in a rented car on the exact route taken by a car carrying Princess Amalia, the heir to the throne.
Dutch security services became suspicious after Mr Piqué appeared to be following the princess, who was reportedly the target of a recent kidnap plot by drug-running cartels, and alerted the Belgian police.
The men, who are all from Amsterdam, received an explanation for their arrest on Aug 2 after being interrogated for an hour at the police station.
They were told they had taken the same exits as the crown princess on the route to Antwerp, which had aroused suspicion.
The DJ’s lawyer said that there were only a limited number of routes from Amsterdam to Antwerp and that he had taken the most logical direction suggested by the satellite navigation system.
When it became clear the men were innocent, they were released.
“They said: ‘Go and enjoy Antwerp, you have a good story to tell at Christmas,’” said Mr Piqué, who works for the digital radio station NPO Blend.
The government information service called Mr Piqué to offer an apology on behalf of the Dutch royal family.
They made clear it was understood how dramatic and upsetting the arrest had been, Mr Piqué told the NOS broadcaster.
“The apologies have been made, and that’s what I wanted,” he said, as he ruled out taking legal action.
He added that it would be nice if his friends were to receive the same apology after revealing that he would not be asking for further compensation from the royals.
“It was a situation in which the crown princess was involved, something that we must take seriously. We therefore had well-founded reasons to carry out the check in such a way,” a spokesman for the Belgian police said.
At the time of the arrest, which was filmed and published on social media, the Dutch service responsible for royal security refused to confirm it was behind the tip-off.
“We never say anything about security and measures,” a spokesman said.
It was revealed earlier this year that Princess Amalia fled to Spain for her own safety after reports she had become a kidnapping target for criminal gangs.
The 20-year-old lived and studied in Madrid for more than a year after being forced to ditch plans to live in student digs in Amsterdam in October 2022.
Her name and that of Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister at the time, were mentioned in intercepted communications between members of Dutch-Moroccan drug cartels.
Ridouan Taghi, reportedly Europe’s most powerful drug lord, denied any plot against the princess before he was sentenced to life in prison for five murders in February.
Princess Amalia now lives in Amsterdam, where she is continuing her studies.
In February, she spoke publicly about the threats for the first time. “I miss normal life, the life of a student. Walking the streets, going to a store,” she said.
Source: Yahoo
Archive
She looks like a young Stifler's Mom. Anyhoo, we have a follow up article.
King Apologizes for Wrongful Arrest of DJ Who Drove Same Route as Princess
Dutch King Willem-Alexander has personally apologized for a royal snafu that saw a DJ and his pals wrongfully arrested after they drove on the same route as Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia.
The terrifying ordeal reportedly saw Serginio Piqué, a Black man, get pulled over abruptly by armed men in balaclavas as he drove in central Antwerp on a Friday evening this month.
Piqué claimed he was ordered out of his car and onto the asphalt, where he and his buds were forced to keep their feet crossed and their hands on their heads until they were handcuffed, reported the NL Times.
The men said they were then ushered into a van and whisked away to be interviewed for more than an hour. That revealed they weren’t kidnappers as authorities originally feared, so they were let go.
The Daily Mail reported that Willem-Alexander personally apologized to the wrongfully detained group this week and acknowledged they’d “become victims.”
Piqué’s attorney, Vito Shukrula, told local media on Thursday that he was called by the personal spokesperson for the Dutch Royal House.
“She told us that the King—King Willem Alexander—wants us to know that the Dutch Royal house understands how deeply frightening this experience must have been for my client and his friends,” Shukrula said. “The King wanted to let us know that he gives his sympathy on behalf of the Royal house.”
Shukrula added that the spokesperson said the mens’ detainment was “an unfortunate consequence of the need to protect the royal house.”
The incident took place on Aug. 2 at the end of a 100-mile drive from Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, to Antwerp, in Belgium. Reports said Piqué had unknowingly been driving behind Catharina-Amalia, the 20-year-old heir to the Dutch throne, the entire way.
Belgian authorities reportedly told Piqué that they were asked by Dutch authorities to pull them over because they feared the group was attempting to abduct Catharina-Amalia.
Piqué reportedly said Belgian officers were upset they used such force for a false alarm. He said the officer reportedly told the group as they released them, “Go and enjoy Antwerp, you have a good story to tell at Christmas.”
In interviews about the ordeal, Piqué said he initially feared his race contributed to why he’d been abruptly pulled over and handcuffed.
“You start to wonder if there was perhaps ethnic profiling involved,” he told NOS. “That is a feeling that every person of color experiences when they are wrongfully stopped.”
Piqué told the outlet he’s still confused at why such an extreme reaction was needed.
“They could have searched our car and we would have been done in two minutes,” he said.
Source: Yahoo
Archive
