'Silent march' for police victim after Dutch riots

Hundreds of residents of The Hague staged a "silent march" on Saturday afternoon to protest the death of a Caribbean man who died after being forcefully arrested by Dutch police, sparking four days of riots in the city.

Carrying placards and with many wearing T-shirts saying "Justice for Mitch", the protesters laid flowers at the spot where Mitch Henriquez, 42, from the Dutch island of Aruba was arrested last Saturday after a music concert.

More than 200 people were arrested this week after Henriquez's death sparked four nights of rioting in The Hague's predominantly immigrant Schilderswijk district.

"This is a sad day. Mitch was a good guy," John Gerritsma, one of Saturday's marchers told AFP.

"Nobody deserves to die like this," he added, wearing a pin with Henriquez's face on it.

"We are waiting for the investigation, but we hope justice will be done," added Henriquez's 21-year-old cousin, Sasha Dijkhoff.   

Despite a call for calm from his family, rioters smashed windows of businesses, banks and a theatre and threw rocks and fireworks at Dutch police earlier this week.

Although allegations of rough treatment by police against the inner-city neighbourhood's residents have been levelled before, many protesters told AFP the rioters came from "elsewhere in the Netherlands".

Henriquez died Sunday, a day after being forcefully arrested at a music festival, with initial autopsy results indicating the likely cause of death was suffocation. There was no evidence of drugs or excessive alcohol in his system.

Dutch authorities have said it appears his suffocation was a result of the "police intervention".

Police said they moved to arrest Henriquez -- who was in the Netherlands on holiday -- after he claimed to have a weapon, but he resisted and then became unwell on the way to the police station.

Mobile phone footage taken by witnesses of the arrest showed several police officers restraining and sitting on Henriquez, before his limp body was dragged to a police vehicle.

Five Dutch police officers have been suspended from their duties over the incident.