Russia jails protesters who threw tomatoes at Dutch king

A Russian court on Monday sentenced opposition activists to 15 and 10 days in police cells for petty hooliganism after they flung tomatoes at visiting Dutch King Willem-Alexander.

A Moscow district court sentenced 23-year-old Denis Kudryavtsev to 15 days for petty hooliganism, while 18-year-old Viktoria Kuznetsova was sentenced to 10 days, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

The activists were arrested after they hurled tomatoes at the Dutch king — missing their target — on Saturday as he and the queen arrived at a gala concert in central Moscow.

Both are members of The Other Russia opposition party, which is led by novelist and radical dissident Eduard Limonov, and holds regular unsanctioned protests.

The party said the activists were expressing outrage at the January death of activist Alexander Dolmatov, who committed suicide after the Netherlands turned down his asylum request and sent him to an airport detention centre.

They yelled at the Dutch king: “The blood of Dolmatov is on your hands!”

Dolmatov had been arrested and released over clashes between police and activists at a May 2012 street protest against President Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin.

The 36-year-old engineer fled to the Netherlands fearing rearrest on serious charges but had his asylum request rejected.

The Other Russia said that the Dutch investigation of Dolmatov’s suicide was not thorough enough and that his mother did not receive compensation.

The Dutch king on Friday met Putin to discuss bilateral issues.

Dutch-Russian ties have become strained in recent weeks because of the arrest and detention of the crew of a Dutch-flagged Greenpeace ship over a protest against Arctic drilling.