2011-10-14 Belgian secret police caught severely violating human rights #AgoraBRX #walktobrussels

Watch closely as a policeman in civilian clothing kicks an 18 year old girl in the face while handcuffed, in a clear violation of human rights agreements. Later he elbows her hard on the face, slamming her to the floor. This is only an extract of the full video, which will be published later

The march of the indignants arrived in Brussels on the 7th of October, after over two months of walking. Hundreds of protesters walked from Madrid, Paris and parts of Germany to the European parliament to demand a more participatory democracy and greater equality. Since arriving in Brussels the indignant movement has faced continued police repression and brutality. On October the 8th, 48 people were arrested while peacefully protesting in the central park. Yet authorities were unable to place any charges and all were released 12 hours later.

On October 12th a group of 30 indignants targeted banks in an action protesting corporate greed. The demonstrators entered Dexia Bank, which is on the brink of bankruptcy and is demanding to be rescued, waving signs and chanting “you are responsible” and “we will not pay for your crisis”. The police arrived and began escorting protesters out of the building. Most were allowed to leave and seven were detained, yet one protester, Niki, an eighteen year old female was kicked in the face while handcuffed by a plainclothes policeman:

"We were there peacefully protesting in the bank when a policeman started pushing us. He arrested the girl next to me, and then I was thrown against the wall. At no stage did I resist, but the police officer started pulling my hair and twisting my arm, the pain was so bad I started screaming. He handcuffed me and put me on the floor face down. As I was lying down not moving, he came up and punched me in the face. My head smashed against the ground hard and I felt a sharp pain. My friends tried to ask for his identification number because he wasn’t showing it, but all of the officers wouldn’t give it to us. A few minutes later, I was sitting there in a state of shock with the other arrested people when the same plain clothed police officer came up to me again and kicked me right in the face. I was knocked back to the ground and my face was hurting so much it started to swell up"

<

The protesters were then dragged out of the bank and released without charge. Nikki was rushed to hospital and treated for facial injuries. As in previous incidences there were multiple reports of police failing to show any identification, as they are required to do by law.