PSeveral hundred people marched on Saturday afternoon in the Bois de la Cambre in Brussels to protest against the current corona measures. They consider them undemocratic, limiting their freedom and the harbinger of a dictatorship.
According to many protesters, the danger and proportion of the coronavirus pandemic is greatly exaggerated, while the damage caused by the measures is underestimated. Most of the demonstrators did not wear masks and kept little or no distance from each other, despite repeated calls from the police who spoke of a thousand participants. The latter, present in the Bois, however, did not intervene at first.
The demonstration is part of an international day of protest against corona measures. Gatherings are also held in other countries under the name of the “World Freedom Demonstration”.
“We are here today to claim our freedom. We do not come to ask for it, we come to demand it because it is our right. For over a year our constitutional rights and freedoms have been curtailed and violated, and this must stop. We are also here to defend the many social groups that are forgotten in this pandemic, those whose voices are not heard in the media ”, expressed one of the participants, regretting that physical health is too much taken into account. account, at the expense of mental health.
Many protesters still remained after the rally. Some provoked TV crews and journalists. The tension escalated further when the police arrived on the scene in large numbers, greeted with boos. The latter urged the activists at the end of the day to put an end to their action, which ended in peace.
“Wild carnival”
Saturday afternoon, a colorful carnival procession marched through Brussels, from the Place du Jeu de Balle in the Marolles through the Place de Bethléem in Saint-Gilles to the Place Saint-Antoine in Forest. It was the Wild Carnival, which usually takes place in the flea market square. The procession had not been announced and therefore had not received authorization. The participants as well as the spectators also did not respect the barrier gestures. The police in the Midi zone, who asked that the measures be respected, did not intervene at first.
The Wild Carnival takes place every year on the Place du Jeu de Balle. Participants make their costumes themselves, mostly from recycled materials, and then dance through the City.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the procession could not take place but that did not prevent around 200 people from gathering in the emblematic place of Marolles. From there, the group then headed for Saint-Gilles and Forest, gleaning more spectators and additional participants.
After repeated requests from the local police to respect health measures, the latter finally decided to disperse the mass on Saturday evening in Anderlecht, in consultation with the mayor. It was not specified whether people had been arrested.
The police of the Midi zone (Anderlecht / Saint-Gilles / Forest) arrested around ten people after the “Wild Carnival” which crossed Brussels on Saturday afternoon, while two sections of the police were targeted in the area. rue du Charroi in Forest. Previously, the police had already identified a dozen other participants in the unannounced and therefore unauthorized event.