Étiquette : Témoignage

2 octobre 2025, boulevard Pacheco – Bruxelles

Mobilisation pro-Palestine contre l’arraisonnement de la Flotille Sumud, 2 octobre à Bruxelles

“I’m writing to you to get in touch for some help regarding an episode of police violence that happened to me Thursday 02 oct 2025 between rue du Meiboom and Bd Pacheco.

The context

On the 2nd of October, in Brussels, a big and spontaneous demonstration started at the Ministry of External Affairs, in solidarity with the population of Gaza, and, more precisely, to ask the Belgian government to make pressure for the release of the international hostages illegally kidnapped by Israeli forces from the humanitarian mission Global Sumud Flotilla. The demonstration then moved from the Ministry of External Affairs to the EU Parliament (Place du Luxembourg). Then, it moved to place de la Bourse, where it met the daily pro-palestine demonstration. 
After a while, the crowd decided to move again in front of the EU Parliament, where a lot of people was still gathering.

The block

Around 21:20, the spontaneous but peaceful demonstration was moving in the streets of the city center, trying to reach the ring boulevards. 
Suddenly, without any kind of notice, the first part of the demonstration (around 100 demonstrators) was blocked by riot police in Rue Meiboom, on the front and the back, leaving just a few free meters to run backwards, but physically attacking (with batons and pepper spray) everyone who was trying to go back.

Apparently, the only secure escape path to disperse was the stairs that from Rue Meiboom go to Bd Pacheco. More precisely, the staircase next to Rue du Meiboom 33.

At that point, me and a dozen demonstrators, who were panicking because of the block on the back, tried to run on those stairs to get a secure exit from the demonstration. I run faster than the others, precisely because I jumped over a small wall on the left of the staircase -so I did not have to climb the last part of the stairs- and reached bd Pacheco. Then I started running on the left, passing next to the Congres Station and going through the little meadows. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw many civil policemen -recognisable by the orange band on the arm- on the opposite side of the street, next to the Brussel Boulevard Pacheco – In Front bus stop (google maps name).

The aggression

One of the civil policemen (CP1), with a baton in his right hand, run from the opposite side of the street and knock me down on the grass, giving me a first baton hit on my neck while I was on the ground on my right side, in fetal position, trying to protect my face. 
Then, a second civil policeman (CP2) came to ”help” his colleague by climbing on my neck with his left knee, performing the chokehold knee-neck maneuver and suffocating me as well as immobilizing me with his weight (about 80kg). At that point, CP1 stood up and started kicking me for 10-15 seconds (I don’t remember the exact number of kicks), surely hitting my right index finger, my left wrist and my right knee. I was still in fetal position. I am quite sure CP1 was shouting insults while kicking me.
Perhaps, a third civil policeman (CP3) joined the aggression, kicking me.

After 10-15 seconds, CP2 moved from my neck, CP1 got me up holding me by the back of my jacket with his right hand, while with his left hand he gripped the baton applying pressure to the center of my back, and leading me back to the stairs. On the way to the stairs, he shouted very loud at me various insults in French; the sentences I’m sure about are: “Si je te revois, je te coupe la gorge !!” -this one surely more than once, two or three times (if I see you again, I’ll cut your throat!).

A couple of meters from the stairs, he made me pass through a group of riot policemen standing in front of the stairs. One of them (RP1), with pepper spray in his hand, tried to hit me with the spray, shooting in direction of my face, but, since CP1 pushed me and kicked me in the butt to throw me back on the stairs, making me accelerate, the pepper spray only grazed me.

At that point, after going down the stairs, I found myself limping in rue du Maiboom, forced to run to avoid further violence from the police who were dispersing the demonstrators. The adrenaline made me run, but after a few meters I felt strong pain in my right knee, left wrist and right index finger (very swollen, I thought it was broken).

I stopped another protester and asked if my teeth were broken.

Witnesses

Since I jumped the little wall to run onto Pacheco Boulevard and avoided the last part of the stairs, I believe I was the first of the protesters to reach the boulevard. Therefore, if there are any eyewitnesses, they were behind me. Returning to the scene of the incident I noticed that at the Brussels Congres station there is a camera, positioned only a few meters away from the attack.

Report

I have a very detailed medical report, with a four-day prognosis, taken the day after the incident. The report also includes photographs of the marks on my body.”

Violences physiques

Violences psychologiques

• Témoignage ObsPol

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