Council of State rules that ban of conservative-right conference violated right to peaceful assembly
Belgium’s Council of State has ruled that a decision to ban a meeting of representatives of the conservative and religious (far)right contravenes the constitutional right to peaceful assembly. On Tuesday the Mayor of Sint-Joost-ten-Node Emir Kir (independent) banned the NatCon conference that had already started at the Le Claridge events centre on the Leuvensesteenweg.
Members of conservative philosophical, political and religious organisations and far-right politicians and thinkers from across Europe have gathered in Brussels for the conference. The Council of State ruled that there was insufficient evidence that allowing the National Conservatism Conference to go ahead at Le Claridge forms a threat to public order. On Tuesday Mr Kir had issued a Police Order to close the gathering down with immediate effect. The Mayor of Sint-Joost-ten-Node’s motivation for doing so was to prevent a violent confrontation on the streets of the Brussels municipality. The Council of State says that there is insufficient evidence to prove that allowing the conference to proceed would pose a threat to public order.
Initially, the conference was to have taken place at the Concert Noble, a hall not far from the European Parliament. However, last week the company that manages Concert Noble decided to cancel the booking and NatCon was forced to seek an alternative location. A conference room was booked at the Sofitel Brussels Europa hotel on the Jourdanplein in Etterbeek. However, there too the management cancelled the booking. Eventually, NatCon was able to reserve Le Claridge, an events hall in Sint-Joost-ten-Node.
The conference got under way as planned at 8am on Tuesday. The Brussels regional news platform Bruzz reports that the conference hall was full to capacity. However, the Mayor of Sint-Joost-ten-Node Emir Kir issued a Police Order cancelling the conference with immediate effect. A large contingent of police officers went to Le Claridge. Those already present were not made to leave the conference hall, but the police didn’t allow any more people to enter Le Claridge. People that had been inside, had gone out and wanted to return were not allowed back in.
Criticism
Mr Kir’s actions attracted criticism from home and abroad. The Federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Flemish liberal) called Mr Kir’s decision to issue a Police Order “unacceptable” adding that banning political meetings is “unconstitutional”. The organisers of the NatCon conference went to the Council of State to get the ban overturned. The Council of State ruled that the ban be revoked and the conference started as planned earlier this morning.