Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday condemned rioters in Rotterdam and other towns and cities across the Netherlands over the weekend as "idiots" and said police and prosecutors would bring them to justice. .

Rutte's comments came after coronavirus protests in the Netherlands and Brussels descended into violence amid simmering anger at lockdown measures being put in place in an attempt to rein in soaring rates of infection. .

A protester lights a flare during a demonstration against the reinforced measures of the Belgium government to counter the latest spike of the coronavirus in Brussels, Belgium, Sunday, Nov.

But he said violence in Rotterdam and other smaller incidents in the Netherlands had "nothing to do with demonstrating

Demonstrations in Amsterdam and the southern city of Breda protesting lockdown measures passed off without violence on Saturday and the vast majority of tens of thousands of protesters in Brussels remained peaceful. 

Prosecutors in Rotterdam, in their latest update on rioting Friday night that saw police open fire on rampaging rioters, said Sunday that 49 people were arrested, six of them minors and many more "young adults." 

A protestors clash with riot police during a demonstration against the reinforced measures of the Belgium government to counter the latest spike of the coronavirus in Brussels, Belgium, Sunday, Nov