The Brussels Civil Court has ordered the Belgian State, the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone, and the mayor of the City of Brussels to compensate the victims of police violence committed during a demonstration in January 2021, the Human Rights League reported on Monday.
In this case, 11 young people had filed a civil liability action before the court against the Brussels police and municipal authorities.
Nearly 150 people, mostly young people, gathered on 24 January 2021, on the Place de l'Albertine in Brussels to demonstrate against "class justice" and abuses of authority by police officers. The conditions for the demonstration were particularly strict given the rules in place to avoid contact due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and tensions between demonstrators and police officers arose.
The police made numerous arrests. Several young people were arrested and taken to the Etterbeek police station, where some were subjected to violence, as well as sexist and racist insults.
Police arrest protestors at a demonstration called Stop the class justice, stop the racist justice to denounce the physical, psychological and or economical violences towards women and all ethnic minorities, Sunday 24 January 2021, in Brussels. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
'Trapping' people
In January 2023, two years after the events, 11 young people decided to file a complaint against the police authorities. The Human Rights League joined the action. This complaint targeted not the events themselves, for which criminal investigations are still ongoing, but the flaws in the system for controlling demonstrations.
The plaintiffs particularly condemned ethnic profiling and the practice of "kettling" people. This police measure consists of surrounding a group of people during a demonstration that escalates and preventing them from leaving the area, without distinguishing between troublemakers and peaceful demonstrators.
According to the Human Rights League, the judgment shows that the use of this "confinement" measure is not currently authorised under Belgian law.
