Belgian police detained a dozen people and made one arrest on Sunday after Morocco’s victory over Belgium in the World Cup match in Qatar triggered riots in Brussels that saw electric scooters and a car set on fire.
Hundreds of police officers, some of whom had objects thrown at them, intervened with water cannons and tear gas to quell the riots in the city.
Moroccans represent the largest non-European immigrant population in Belgium, and the majority are descendants of a wave of immigration wave following a 1964 guest-worker agreement.
“At about 3:22 p.m., dozens of people, some of them wearing hoods, sought confrontation with law enforcement, which compromised public safety,” a police spokesperson told the Belga news agency.
“Pyrotechnic material was used, projectiles were thrown, sticks were used, and a container was set on fire on the public highway. […] A traffic light was destroyed as well as the surrounding of a vehicle with passengers in it […]. A journalist was also injured in the face by fireworks,” the spokesperson added.
The riots also disrupted traffic since police closed off traffic on the Boulevard du Midi and ordered the STIB public transport network to close some of its lines.
Incidents also broke out in Brussels’ Molenbeek district and Antwerp.
Brussels Mayor Philippe Close reacted to the incidents on Twitter, saying that he “strongly condemns” what happened in the afternoon, adding that the police had “intervened firmly” to “maintain public order”. “I have asked the police to proceed to administrative arrests of the troublemakers,” he added.
Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, who recently proposed a bill to combat football hooliganism inside stadiums, also reacted to the incidents on Twitter.
“Sad to see a few people taking advantage of the situation to start a riot. Many thanks to our police forces who are doing everything in their power to end this and will do everything they can in the coming days to identify the rioters.”
Together with Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne, Verlinden sent a circular to all mayors and heads of police forces on Sunday, addressing ways to combat violence targeted towards the police.
What happened?
At the beginning of the match, a crowd formed in the centre of Brussels in the pedestrian area near the Palais du Midi. Dozens of young people gathered, some with Moroccan flags on their backs.
Tempers flared when the referee disallowed Ziyech’s opening goal, and the tension mounted further at the start of the second half. The approximately 150 young people present between the Stock Exchange and the Gare du Midi got angry, and a trash can was set on fire, and firecrackers and fireworks were set off.
As tensions rose, young people attacked the passing vehicles and an empty rental car was damaged and thrown against other vehicles leading to scuffles with police.
The RTBF executive committee members reacted immediately: “Any attack on a member of our teams present in the field will be prosecuted and the subject of a legal complaint. The relay of what is happening pass here or elsewhere by our journalists and our teams is at the heart of our mission to inform. It must be able to be carried out in complete independence, a key element of our democracies. Their work must be respected and, above all, the integrity of their body”.
(With additional reporting by Georgi Gotev)
Source: euractiv.com
