In the eastern city of Liège, the premier city of Wallonia, an extreme left-wing protest against a visit by the leader of the governing Francophone liberals of MR, Georges-Louis Bouchez got out of hand last night. Protesters left a trail of destruction through the city and tried to break into the town hall. Eight people were arrested.
Last night, MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez and Francophone education minister Valérie Glatigny (MR) staged a conference on the reforms in French-language education at the Liège convention centre.
The far-left “Antifa” movement had called for demonstrations against the visit. According to the police, around 500 demonstrators turned up.
Broken windows and paint daubed
The protest started peacefully, but got out of hand around 8 p.m., according to French-speaking media. When the protesters couldn't get to the conference centre because they were stopped by the police, they headed towards the city centre. On the way, they vandalised tram stops.
A dozen demonstrators climbed the steps of the town hall and tried to force open the door. Others threw projectiles at the town hall, smashing several windows, the police confirmed.
The buildings of media companies La Meuse and RTL were also targeted. They were daubed with paint and pelted with fruit and eggs.
The police eventually managed to disperse the demonstrators from the square in front of the town hall using water cannon. However, a few rioters continued to disrupt the public order by setting fire to rubbish bins and other acts of vandalism. Five people were arrested and three others were taken into administrative custody.
Two police officers were also slightly injured in the riots.