Five people have been charged in connection with clashes with the police and acts of vandalism that occurred in the margins of Tuesday’s demonstration against the government’s socio-economic policies. Several dozen people were arrested on Tuesday lunchtime after masked demonstrators threw missiles, paint bombs and fireworks at a government building on the Pachecolaan in the centre of Brussels.
Five people arrested following violence and vandalism in the margins of Tuesday’s demonstration
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On Wednesday the Brussels public prosecutor's office announced that several investigations had been open and three individuals had been charged with criminal association. A further two suspects have been charged with resisting arrest and vandalism.
The Brussels Prosecutor’s Office says that initial findings of the investigation show that a specific group deliberately committed acts of violence during the demonstration. The group had a specific modus operandi that included wearing masks and mingling with demonstrators they had committed offences in order to remain anonymous.
An investigation is also under way into an arson attack on the IJzerplein just before the start of the demonstration.
Rubber bullets
On Wednesday the Belgian Defence minister Theo Francken (Flemish nationalist) posted on the social media platform X that the police should have used rubber bullets against what he described as the "extreme left-wing antifa thugs".
"It's always the same in this country. The police should use the FN303 against these thugs, just as the Los Angeles Police Department does. FN Herstal manufactures them in Liège. Home-grown!", Mr Francken wrote. FN presented the latest version of the FN303 to the LAPD during last week’s Belgian trade mission to California.
Howevern human rights organisations warn that the use of “less lethal” weapons by law enforcers can lead to suspects being seriously injured.