Belgium
10:03 25/01/2021
A demonstration by about 100 people on the Mont des Arts on Sunday went ahead without the permission of the Brussels authorities, with the police eventually moving in and making arrests.
The demonstrators, protesting against perceived injustice in recent cases of alleged police brutality and the deaths of local youths in custody, gathered at the site at around 14.00 on Sunday afternoon after answering a call to gather on Facebook, posted Friday evening.
At the time of the posting, permission had been granted for the demonstration to take place but was later revoked after pressure from interior minister Annelies Verlinden forced Brussels Mayor Philippe Close to do so, on the grounds that the protest’s organiser could not guarantee that no more than 100 protesters would attend.