Thirty-six people were arrested and charged in connection with riots that took place in Brussels on the 11th, 15th and 25th of November last, the head of the Brussels-Capital-Ixelles police zone, Michel Goovaerts, said at a press conference on Thursday. Thirty-seven arrests had been made, but one person was arrested twice, Goovaerts explained. “Some people have denounced a lack of response by the police during these intolerable incidents, but nobody had foreseen the risk connected with Morocco’s qualification for the World Cup,” he stressed.
The police held a total of 70 people during the riots, which occurred near the Stock Exchange on the 11th, at the Place de la Monnaie following an event organized by you-tuber Vargasss92 on the 15th and in the Louise on the 25th . “We are not minimizing the facts,” the police chief added. “The rules of coexistence were violated.”
A task force set up on the 12th of November to identify the suspects analysed 600 gigabytes of images and mobilised up to 30 investigators, Goovaerts said.
Some 266 persons contacted the police following the events, either to give information or to express their support for the security forces. Most of the arrests that were followed by charges had to do with the incidents at the Stock Exchange (18) and the Place de la Monnaie (12).
The Brussels Times
