Brussels court condemns police violence during 2021 protest

A Brussels court has formally condemned the Belgian state, the Brussels-Ixelles police zone and the city's mayor, Philippe Close, in a civil liability trial for police violence committed four years ago at the end of a demonstration at the Mont des Arts.

The judgment found in favour of the 11 claimants and the Human Rights League that helped bring the case on a number of points, including the fact that the use of the "passerelle" technique - encircling demonstrators to prevent them from moving - is prohibited in accordance with European law.

It also recognised the illegal nature of the arrests and the use of plastic zip ties to bind the hands of demonstrators, on the grounds that they were not justified.

The judge also said the conditions of detention in the police barracks constituted inhumane and degrading treatment.

“We are happy with this judgment, which obviously clarifies the legal framework for police intervention in demonstrations and which condemns the police zone, the mayor and the Belgian state because they committed faults during the demonstration on 24 January 2021,” said Pauline Delgrange, lawyer for the 11 claimants.

“All these practices, which are practices that we frequently see during demonstrations, are considered illegal by the court with a ruling that is very thorough and detailed.

"This is a judgment that will modify the work of the police in the field in the future. We hope that the police will comply with this judgement and respect the directives that are given for the respect of fundamental rights."

The court did not find in favour of claims of ethnic profiling, though the judgment considered that the orders given were not sufficiently clear and precise to prevent them from giving rise to discriminatory application.

The authorities were ordered to pay €900 in damages to each of the main claimants, and €5,000 to one of them, aged 15 at the time of the demonstration, in compensation for the physical abuse he suffered while in detention.

“It’s not so common and it’s not trivial for the state, an entire police zone and a mayor to be convicted in this way,” said Selma Benkhelifa, lawyer for the young man who was still a minor at the time of the events.

“It makes it possible to place responsibilities above the average dysfunctional police officer. The judgment here points to a general dysfunction in the failure to monitor more closely police officers who behave violently.”

A separate criminal case against the police officers accused of violence at the demonstration is still under investigation.

The issue of police violence has not faded from the national conversation. Almost 1,500 demonstrators marched in Brussels against police violence over the weekend on the international day against police violence and repression.

The procession of demonstrators made several stops to allow various people to speak, particularly relatives of victims of police violence, and also to pay their respects to deceased victims.

“The police are an institution that commits a great deal of violence on a daily basis – this violence must be curbed in order to move towards a system that deals with conflicts in a different way and so that no one dies in contact with the police anymore,” said Camille, a representative from the collective ‘Outils solidaires contre les violences policières’ (tools of solidarity against police violence), one of the groups organising the protest action.

“We’re calling for several changes, in particular an end to car chases and less favouritism for police officers suspected of violence, as we see that they are often dismissed before any trial.

"We’re also calling for a reinvestment in prevention instead of increasing the budget for more repression. It’s necessary to treat the problem at its source.”

Camille noted growing concerns regarding the new federal government. “It wants to generalise the use of tasers within the police force and facilitate cooperation between the police and the immigration office, which suggests more raids among undocumented persons,” she added.