Police in Charleroi on Saturday morning forcibly seized a banner and leaflets from a small group of anti-fascist activists at the Bois du Cazier site, shortly before a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the 1956 mining disaster.
The activists were protesting against the attendance of Italian far-right politicians at the commemoration in Marcinelle.
Officers also asked the group, described as only a handful of people, to leave the site before the ceremonies began.
The commemoration marks 70 years since the disaster in which 262 people lost their lives.
One of the politicians targeted by the protest was Ignazio La Russa, president of the Italian Senate and a member of Fratelli d’Italia, the radical right-wing party of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The activists said his presence tarnished the memory of the victims.
