Groen party leader Aimen Horch was released at around 01.00 on Tuesday morning after being arrested during a pro-Palestine demonstration in Antwerp.
The demonstration, which takes place every Monday evening, is organised in protest against the Israeli flag flying at Antwerp's town hall. Twelve people were administratively detained during the protest and have also been released.
Demonstrations at the town hall itself are generally prohibited and a number of demonstrators were pushed away from the Grote Markt by the police. During the municipal council meeting that was in progress, mayor Els Van Doesburg (N-VA) said that “the rules apply to everyone” and that provoking the police would not be tolerated.
Speaking on Tuesday’s De Ochtend programme on VRT, Horch said it had been a peaceful protest and that the lack of permission at the location was a “fallacy” used by the mayor to push the protesters away.
He said such protests had previously taken place there without issue, and refuted the claim that it constituted a disturbance of public order.
“Footage of the protests is circulating; you can see that we were anything but disturbing public order,” he said.
Horch also denied that he had resisted the police. “I find it unacceptable to be accused of uncivil behaviour or of spitting at the police,” he said.
“You can see the footage online. I have always remained calm and have always cooperated. I always try to be polite to police officers who are trying to do their job. But it was the mayor of Antwerp who decided to ask those police officers to deal harshly with people who were protesting peacefully.”
