Belgian Police arrested 483 peace activists on Sunday as they attempted to gain access to NATO headquarters in Brussels. The activists trekked across fields and climbed over fences leading to the HQ but were stopped by up to 600 police officers in a 'heavy handed' repression of the protest.
The demonstration was organized by Action for Peace as a preemptive protest ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago next month.
The action was called to protest NATO's intervention in Afghanistan and Libya as well as global nuclear arming.
"We neither want the anti-missile shield, nor intervention by NATO in Libya or Afghanistan, nor nuclear bombs that are illegal in our country," said Benoit Calvi, a spokesman for Action for Peace.
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Peace Activists in Failed Bid to Swarm NATO HQ (Agence France-Presse):
Hundreds of peace activists on Sunday tried in vain to break into the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels, with 483 of them arrested by police.
The demonstration, organised by the Belgian association Action for Peace two months before a NATO summit in Chicago, was called to protest the alliance's intervention in Afghanistan and Libya, and nuclear arming.
The demonstration, organised by the Belgian association Action for Peace two months before a NATO summit in Chicago, was called to protest the alliance's intervention in Afghanistan and Libya, and nuclear arming.
Demonstrators crossed fields and sought to climb over fences leading to the NATO compound, but were stopped by a large police presence, some on horseback, according to an AFP reporter at the scene. [...]
Demonstrators shouted "No more NATO", "We want peace now" and "NATO Game Over".
"A military alliance that intervenes all over the world and has nuclear weapons is a threat to world peace," said Action for Peace.
Some "500 to 600 policemen" were deployed to counter the demonstration, a policeman said.
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