The Dutch squatting ban refers to the law (Dutch: Wet Kraken en Leegstand) introduced on 1 October 2010, under which squatting in the Netherlands became de jure illegal. Criminalization had first been proposed in the 1970s, but was opposed by the Council of Churches. In 2006, a new plan was proposed and backed by parties including VVD and PVV. When the new law was introduced, squatters occupied the former head office of the fire brigade and there were riots in Amsterdam and Nijmegen. In 2011, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled that the legally forced end of squatting can only occur after an intervention of a judge. Between October 2010 and December 2014, 529 people were arrested for the act of occupying derelict buildings, in 213 separate incidents as a result of which 39 people were jailed. History In 1978, the Council of Churches launched a protest which scotched a proposal to criminalise squatting. In June 2006, ministers Sybilla Dekker and Piet Hein Donner from the Dutch government proposed a plan to criminalise squatting. Other ministers, such as Alexander Pechtold, were not in favour. Representatives of the four largest Dutch cities wrote a letter stating that it would not be in their interests to proceed with a ban. Squatters nationwide made banners, hanging them on their squats in protest. Criminalization Several parties, notably the VVD party, were vocal critics of squatting. Backed by the leader of the PVV, Geert Wilders, they moved to outlaw squatting. The new squatting ban was passed by the House of Representatives on 15 October 2009 and the Senate on 1 June 2010, and became law on 1 October 2010. The penalty is one year's imprisonment or more, if violence is involved. Mayor of Amsterdam Eberhard van der Laan, and police commissioner Leen Schaap stated their joint intention to clear roughly 200 of 300 squats in Amsterdam, and to treat squatting as a criminal offence. There were estimated to be 1,500 squatters in Amsterdam. Sociologist E.T.C. Dee observes that there was a moral panic generated in the Dutch media regarding three accusations made by the police concerning booby traps and weapons caches in the squats of Amsterdam. Thus the squatters' movement was seen as increasingly violent and needing to be regulated. Reactions Squatting became a criminal offence at midnight on 1 October 2010, passing from the civil courts to the criminal courts. In Amsterdam, squatters