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POLICE STATE: Cops In Brussels, Belgium Prevent Conservatives From Freely Meeting
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POLICE STATE: Cops In Brussels, Belgium Prevent Conservatives From Freely Meeting

“It’s literally a siege” — Shocking escalation of growing totalitarianism across the Western world

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Michael Shellenberger
Apr 16, 2024
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POLICE STATE: Cops In Brussels, Belgium Prevent Conservatives From Freely Meeting
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BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - APRIL 16: Members of the Belgian police enter into the venue in an attempt to cancel the event on Day 1 of The National Conservatism Conference at the Claridge on April 16, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. The National Conservatism (NatCon) conference, attended by 500 delegates over two days, features speeches from former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, among others. Originally slated for Concert Noble, the venue was changed due to pressure from Brussels Mayor Philippe Close. (Photo by Omar Havana/Getty Images)

No sooner had the totalitarian drama in Brazil started to calm down than a fresh new one erupted in Belgium.

As of 5 p.m. local time today, the local Brussels police were not letting people into an event of conservatives in Brussels. They were letting people exit, but they were not letting them come back in.

The National Conservatism Conference was full of famous conservative political leaders in Europe, including UK Brexit leader Nigel Farage, former UK government Home Secretary Suella Braverman, and French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who police blocked from entering.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - APRIL 16: Leader of the nationalist political party Reconquête (Reconquest) Eric Zemmour talks to media as he arrives for a discussion on Day 1 of The National Conservatism Conference at the Claridge on April 16, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. Reconquête! (R!), is a nationalist political party in France founded in late 2021 by Éric Zemmour. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

“We are confined in this room in a so-called Western liberal democracy and so it’s completely insane,” independent reporter Matt Goodwin told Public. Suella Braverman, the UK’s former Home Secretary, denounced the “thought police”  Said Farage, "This is like the old Soviet Union. No alternative view allowed.”

“It’s literally a siege,” said the Chairman of the National Conservatism conference, Yoram Hazony. “We have here representatives of the leading nationalist, conservative, and right of center parties. And not just politicians but also academics, journalists. These are prominent people. These are not inflammatory people.”

Belgian Police block the entrance of the Claridge hotel in Brussesl where is held the "NatCon" national conservatism conference gathering hard-right politicians on April 16, 2024 as Brussels authorities ordered its shutdown, after it was targeted by online protesters and bumped from its first two choices of venue. (Photo by Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP) (Photo by SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP via Getty Images)

The police’s actions appear to directly violate "Article 12: Freedom of assembly and of association" in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is the EU's Bill of Rights. It reads, "1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others."

Hazony described how the police attempted to shut down the event before realizing they were undermanned. “There are 300-400 people here, including 120 journalists and 7-8 camera crews,” said Hazony on a Spaces on X that I hosted at 5:30 pm Belgium time. “It was proceeding normally when, around 2 pm, three police walked into the front door.

“At the moment they walked in, the 7-8 camera crews who had been focusing on [former UK politician and Brexit leader] Nigel Farage, turned to film them,” said Hazony. “Then, they saw they were being filmed and ran outside and called for reinforcements. They knew that the three of them were not able to shut down this event.”

Hazony said the police appeared to be using “public disturbance” as cause for the crackdown.

“We received a document from the municipality,” said Hazony. “One concern was ‘public disturbance.’ But the only disturbance is the police trying to present our conference.”

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