“Five people will face prosecution, three for possession of illegal weapons, one for resisting arrest and one for reasons that will shortly be disclosed,” said Denis Goeman, spokesman for the Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Office, on Monday.

A call to demonstrate on Sunday was circulated on social networks, as voters in 21 European Union Member States voted in the European elections. A few hundred gilets jaunes answered the call, but as the organisers had not asked for permission to protest, the police intervened to contain the rally in Simon Bolivar Square, outside the Gare du Nord in Brussels.

Dozens of police officers surrounded the demonstrators before arresting them one by one, without encountering much resistance. However, a group of demonstrators gathered outside the police cordon and headed towards the pedestrian path off the Square, vandalising street signs and bins as they went. The group then dispersed into the streets around the Grand-Place, where some of the gilets jaunes hid in a watch store, where the police eventually found them.

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Will the yellow vests movement be present on social networks as well as on the street? Some are ready to make their voices heard again in the capital, this Saturday, according to some calls to the event published on some Gilets Jaunes Facebook groups.

According to La Capitale, the event expected Saturday could be more violent.

The police does not want to communicate on the measures that will be implemented this weekend. The Gilets Jaunes have in any case filed an official request to demonstrate.

Last Saturday, for the third week in a row, nearly 200 yellow vests stood at the Arts-Loi crossroads, before being escorted by the police to Luxembourg. No incident was reported on that day.

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Eight people were deprived of their freedom for the acts committed during the demonstration, says Ine Van Wymersch, spokesman for the first substitute of the public prosecutor.

Two individuals were put at the disposal of the Brussels public prosecutor’s office following their hearing, for threatening acts with weapons (throwing stones at the police) and damages to police vehicles.

A minor has been deprived of his liberty, while five people still have to be summoned for interrogation.

The police of the Brussels-Capital Ixelles area still specifies that 450 people were the subject of an administrative arrest.

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Last Saturday, between 500 and 600 police officers were mobilized for the occasion. This time, the double will be requested, the Brussels-Ixelles police stated. This new gathering of Gilets Jaunes has been announced on some social networks but has not been confirmed.

For now, information on where the rally will take place is unclear.

« We found that the actions conducted by the Gilets Jaunes were mobile. The Brussels Capital-Ixelles area, the various police zones of the Brussels region, the federal police and other partners such as firefighters, as well as the Stib and the prevention service of the City of Brussels, are working together to ensure the best possible follow-up, » said Ilse Van De Keere, spokesperson for the local police in Brussels.

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