Jurgen De Landsheer, Chief of Police for the Brussels South Police Zone, is keen to stress that protest is an important democratic right. However, he strongly disapproves of the way in which protests have taken place in the centre of Brussels – as part of protests against cuts in the Francophone education sector - over the past few days.
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Brussels Police Chief on the riots: “Demonstrations increasingly hijacked by organised youths”
Colin Clapson
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According to De Landsheer, demonstrations are increasingly being hijacked by organised youths. ‘They are almost professional troublemakers who drag naive protesters into their game against the government and the police. Any excuse will do to destabilise us,’ he told TV viewing Flanders.
Should these young people then be sent to a boot camp, as Flemish socialist leader Conner Rousseau (Vooruit) and Belgian defence minister Theo Francken (Flemish nationalist N-VA) have suggested? “When you see how long the waiting lists for secure youth detention centres already are, there is simply no budget for boot camps,” De Landsheer notes.
Even with a budget, he does not think it is a good idea. ‘We see that these are often children aged between 11 and 15. It is primarily up to parents to keep their children off the streets. If that does not work, we have to resort to a ban.’
According to De Landsheer, the police are doing everything in their powers, and they are doing so in the right way. ‘There are young people who come for one thing only: they want to see things go up in flames. It is then difficult for police officers not to get frustrated. Officers have to intervene, and according to most of the footage that I have seen so far, that happened correctly.’