45 arrested, including 12 minors, during protests in Belgium’s Lieg

Necva Tastan Sevinc

Belgian police arrested 45 people, including 12 minors, during protests in Liege on Saturday, local media reported Sunday.

The arrests comprised 40 administrative detentions and five judicial arrests, police said in an updated statement, the Belga news agency reported.

Police also reported vandalism and fires in public areas Saturday evening.

Around 50 protesters gathered in Place Saint-Lambert and fired pyrotechnic mortars at the Prince-Bishops’ Palace, police said. Officers used a water cannon and tear gas to disperse the group.

Calm appeared to have returned by the evening, according to police.

The day began with a peaceful gathering of between 200 and 250 people outside Guillemins railway station at around 10 am.

Demonstrators then marched to Place Saint-Lambert, where a sit-in blocked bus traffic, before moving toward Le Cadran at around 1.15 pm.

Belga reported that protesters blocked several roads in the area, including access to the motorway toward Burenville, and that some moved barriers to build barricades.

Later in the afternoon, around 30 protesters were surrounded by at least as many riot police in Place Saint-Lambert, the agency reported.