A conference on National Conservatism is proceeding today in Brussels after a Belgian court ruled in the eventās favour against a police shutdown ordered by the local mayor, in what has been hailed as a āvictory for free speechā.
In a dramatic turn of events, police yesterday barricaded the āNatCon Brussels 2ā conference at Claridge event venue on the order of the local mayor, following pressure from left-wing Belgian groups to shut it down. Speakers and attendees were allowed to leave the venue but didnāt permit entry or re-entry.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo described the situation as āunacceptable,ā saying that while municipal authority is a ācornerstoneā of the countryās democracy, that ācan never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830ā.
āBanning political meetings is unconstitutional. Full stop,ā he wrote on X.
What happened at the Claridge today is unacceptable. Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy but can never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830. Banning political meetings is unconstitutional.Full stop.
— Alexander De Croo š§šŖšŖšŗ (@alexanderdecroo) April 16, 2024
Similarly, a spokesperson for the British Prime Minister described the events as āextremely disturbing,ā adding that Rishi Sunak āis very clear that cancelling events or preventing attendance and no-platforming speakers is damaging to free speech and to democracy as a resultā.
Organisers National Conservatism mounted an emergency legal challenge against the order to shut down its event at their third venue, which was selected after two previous sites cancelled their booking following left-wing pressure.
The legal challenge was backed by legal advocacy firm, ADF International, and in a late-night ruling, the Conseil dāĆtat, the highest court in Belgium relating to issues of public administration, announced that the conference, scheduled for April 16th-17th, was free to meet today for its second day without interference from state authorities.
In the decision, the court decided that the Belgian Constitution āgrants everyone the right to assemble peacefully,ā and although the mayor has the authority to make police ordinances in case of āserious disturbance of the public peace or other unforeseen events,ā in this case there was no sufficient threat of violence to justify this.
The court argued thatĀ āit does not seem possible to infer from the contested decision that a peace-disrupting effect is attributed to the congress itselfā. Rather, as the decision notes, āthe threat to public order seems to be derived purely from the reactions that its organisation might provoke among opponentsā.
Executive Director of ADF International, Paul Coleman said that in allowing the conference to proceed, the Belgian court had ācome down on the side of basic human rightsā.
āWhile common sense and justice have prevailed, what happened yesterday is a dark mark on European democracy. No official should have the power to shut down free and peaceful assembly merely because he disagrees with what is being said,ā Mr Coleman said.
āHow can Brussels claim to be the heart of Europe if its officials only allow one side of the European conversation to be heard?ā
The conference is currently underway, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor OrbƔn addressing those assembled alongside a host of well-known conservative figures.
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Good sense prevailed in the end but the episode serves as a reminder of just how repressive the left are prepared to be the minute they get a bit of authority.
I look forward to the mayor losing his job – anything less than than is lack of accountability.
Start with the mayor!
Shutting down and deplatforming political opposition seems to be the new normal. European institutions including the various police forces,( including our own) seem to have been taken over by the woke mob. I say woke mob because that is what it looks like but who or whom is controlling this mob?
On the face of it , it looks like it’s organic but dig just a little deeper and you will see the strings attached to these mob puppets. Who’s pulling the strings?
There are some clues, WEF, UN, WHO etc etc. personally I think it is simpler than that. Cui bono. Who benifits?
Let’s take the two biggest recent examples. COVID and climate change/ global warming. Both are / were exaggerated to the fullest with the population at large suffering as a result. Who benifits from these exaggerations. Well in the case of COVID it was/ still is the enormous sums of money made as a result. Not only in ” vaccines” but in the huge profits made from online shopping.
I could go on and on but you get the message I’m sure.
We , the public pay through the nose and also or health for these obvious scams.
There is an excellent article here on gript about the ” carbon tax” , worth a read. The sums are enormous and it’s mugs like us that are paying the price.
Cui Bono, and you have your answer.
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Police and the GardaĆ in Ireland, should not be allowed to follow the orders of regimes breaking the statutes of their own constitution. Like free speech and protest rights. The GardaĆ need a committee to assess each request coming from the government, that has nothing to do with normal law and crime. They then will have the right to say ‘No’!
The conference was shut down not because of the organisers views but because those views might cause them to be attacked by counter protestors.
That was the reason given anyway.
The Belgian PM condemned the threat of violence being used to curtail free speech in this way.
The City’s decision was finally overturned by an emergency late night sitting of a court.
If such a conference was organised in Ireland you would think this idea the Brussels Mayor had of shutting it down on safety grounds would appeal to some.
(They could also nail us with increased insurance charges for such a potentially risky event)
What chance the Taoiseach would intervene on behalf of free speech. What chance we’d get a late night sitting of a court to uphold our right to free speech.
Prepare yourself.
Belgium another modern progressive tolerant european democracy. A shining example of political freedom and the liberal values of free speech and debate. Imagine, some people have to live in Russia or China, where they have political policing.
On a more serious note, liberalism continues to eat itself. You can have freedom as long as it does not infringe on liberal orthodoxy, call it illiberal liberalism.
When all this crap is over, we will have an array of ‘i was just following orders’ like it is some kind of valid excuse. They were just following orders in the gulags too when they murdered between 66-100m people.
Why not name the local mayor of Brussels?
His name is Emir Kir. He is a Belgian/Turkish national, apparently who is very big on safety… Not so big on freedom of speech though. Strange
Same as the rolling gaza protests in the UK. Police stopping citizens from carrying or waving the union jack but if you support the terrorists, well, work lads. Cos there are too many of them and we sold out long time ago…
The Polish farmers are blocking the Ukrainian borders in protest again for a half a day, in protest against Ukraine flooding Poland with cheap grain, from farms that now belong to US multi-nationals, which they got for practically nothing. We should keep an eye on this, as to whether they intend to use this to put EU Farmers out of business. When the EU competition is gone, the prices could then pushed wildly upwards? Is this one of von der Leyen’s targets? Otherwise, why is it allowed?
Whether they call themselves the Common Market, the European Economic Community (EEC), the European Community (EC), the European Union (EU), or even eventually the United States of Europe (USE), they are all run, and have been continually run under the guidance and guidelines of the American Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and the Tavistock Institute (TI), so nothing new here, business as usual.
Well, the mask really slipped for the leftie-woke types.
I am so glad that this was shown to all. An utter disgrace that this was allowed to happen, but common sense prevailed. However, as somebody else mentioned in this forum, do you think Ireland would be any different. I think not.
Moreover, the motivations of the mayor are completely disingenuous. While I agree that public order should be maintained, it is just as (if not more important) that people are allowed to convene and speak their minds. That is the price of democracy.
It is a sad reflection that people of the right leaning persuasion (and I mean leaning, they are not fascists) should not be allowed to speak. It is a complete and delibrate misunderstanding of how most western democracies function.
You can call it nanny state, or you can call it what it was. It was oppression, censorship, and use of the state apparatus to suppress freedom of speech. The mayor, Emir Kir should be sacked and run out of office. A disgusting overreach of power.