Mayor of Antwerp says that some of those involved in New Year’s Eve violence were just 10 or 11 years old
As in previous years, Antwerp and Brussels were the scene of acts of vandalism, arson and acts of violence against the police and the emergency on New Year’s Eve. The police say that they found illegal fireworks, Molotov cocktails and other pyrotechnical material during operations on Wednesday night and that they were pelted with bricks and had fireworks fired at them on several occasions in both cities.
By 3:15am on Thursday Antwerp police had arrested 93 people, the majority of whom under the age of 20. In the Brussels-Capital Region that has double the population of the City of Antwerp, the police say that by midnight they had arrested 63 people. Figures for the whole of the New Year’s night in the capital will be released later on Thursday.
By breakfast time it had become clear that it had been a troubled New Year’s Eve in some parts of Antwerp. More than 100 people had been arrested and most of these were in their teens. In an interview with VRT Radio 1’s morning news and current affairs programme ‘De ochtend’, the Mayor of Antwerp Els van Doesburg (Flemish nationalist) said “Really they are children. Some are just 10 or 11 years old. They are getting ever younger. The police take them home and their mother and father seem hardly aware that they were out on the streets. They just shrug their shoulders. A complete blurring of norms”.
House arrest orders were in force for 17 young people in Antwerp during New Year’s Eve and the early hours of New Year’s Day. “These were generally upheld but were did have to pick a couple of them up off the street”.
Mayor Van Doesburg views the violence that recurs each New Year’s Eve with regret. “Many cities are affected by this. A lot of young people seem to think that the streets belong to them, but that is obviously not the case. We will prosecute them. This will no go unpunished”
