There were no permits issued for gatherings at Atomium or Central Station on Sunday, the police of the Brussels Capital / Ixelles zone said on Thursday.
Calls to demonstrate against Belgium’s coronavirus measures on Sunday 31 January had surfaced on social media.
One of those calls came from an entrepreneur from Beveren (in the province of East Flanders), who took to Facebook to criticise political leaders' handling of the crisis, calling on the government to resign.
Shortly after this call, 7,000 people had already responded that they would take part in a demonstration at the foot of the Atomium on Sunday between 11:00 and 12:00.
In the meantime, the number of people who marked themselves as attending has grown to 40,000, while some 200 people said they intended to gather at Brussels' Central Station.
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"There are several calls for demonstrations this Sunday 31/1 at the Atomium and the Central Station in Brussels. There is no permit for this and we strongly advise against going there between 11 and 12 o'clock on Sunday," the Brussels police tweeted.
Er doen verschillende oproepen de ronde om deze zondag 31/1 te manifesteren aan het #Atomium en het Centraal station te #Brussel. Hiervoor is GEEN toelating en we raden dan ook sterk af om zondag tussen 11 en 12 uur naar die plaatsen te gaan. pic.twitter.com/oU8zhQvXdG
— PolBru (@zpz_polbru) January 28, 2021
On Sunday, incidents occurred after an unauthorised demonstration against class justice at the Mont des Arts in Brussels. The demonstration itself went smoothly, but the police then proceeded to make administrative arrests of 245 people. Some of them reported acts of violence by police officers.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
