Two men arrested during the demonstrations that took place in Brussels on 19 December were sentenced to two years in prison by the Brussels public prosecutor's office on Thursday.
The men were in possession of a large number of fireworks which the prosecutor’s office believes were intended for use against the police, though both men deny this, according to Belga News Agency.
Both men were checked by police prior to the start of the 19 December demonstration as a result of extra checks being done because of violence and unrest at previous protests, whereupon they were discovered to be in possession of 21 bottle rockets.
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The fireworks were capable of causing serious injuries even from a great distance, and the men also had 21 smaller fireworks, four smoke flares, a slingshot, and some 80 paintball balls in which the paint had been replaced by petrol and liquor.
“Everything was investigated and certainly the material that [the suspects] were carrying could have caused a dangerous explosion,” the public prosecutor said. “Both clearly had the intention to run amok and to behave unruly.”
Suspects deny bad intentions
The two men deny having bad intentions for their massive amounts of explosives.
“My client is not a troublemaker and had no malicious intentions,” said one of their lawyers.
“He suffers from an anxiety disorder and had a hard time because of the corona measures. His psychologist had told him that he needed to get in touch with people and perhaps participate in a demonstration. He did not realise that the fireworks he bought on the internet were so dangerous. He has been careless, but did not mean any harm.”
The other man’s lawyer also said their client had no intent to riot.
“He is not a far-right figure, and there is no evidence that he had the intention of committing armed rebellion,” they said.
