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Various newspapers are to-day reporting the mass arrests and clashes between peaceful protestors and riot police in the Belgian capital Brussels on September 11th. Protesters sought to use the Sept. 11 anniversary to draw attention to their belief that Islam threatens democracy and the rule of law in Europe. The demonstration was initially planned by Stop Islamization of Europe, a loose alliance with roots in Germany, Britain and Denmark. The group had predicted that 20,000 people would come to Brussels from all over Europe.
Brussels Mayor Freddy Thielemans banned the protest last month, calling SIOE an inflammatory group and its proposed demonstration a threat to public order. An appeals court upheld the ban Aug. 29. This issue was discussed at that time on Politics.ie.
Among those arrested were two of the leaders of the Vlams Belang party and a member of the European parliament from Italy, Mario Borghezio.
The Brussels Journal blog gave a first hand account of the violence
"the Brussels police are not allowing the demonstrators to protest without hindrance. People are being dragged away by the police and put into buses.
Flyboy then got on the phone and told me that riot police have been deployed, and that dogs and water cannon are being used against the demonstrators. There has been no violence except by the police. I could hear the demonstrators chanting and dogs barking in the background."
You may disagree with what the protesters were protesting, but surely an essential liberty in any democracy is the right to express grievances in public in a peaceful manner. This was a peaceful protest which was originally planned for 20,000 people was scaled back to a few hundred. They marched peacfully and were met by riot police, dogs and water cannon before being hauled away in paddywagons. What happened in Belguim was a direct attack on an already compromised democracy.
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Originally Posted by lostexpectation
