Bruges (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Three Extinction Rebellion activists filed a complaint against Bruges police, claiming intimidation, unjust arrests, and forced undressing after a March 22, 2025, protest. Police, led by Lien Depoorter, are investigating and reviewing footage. Past cases (2019, 2021, 2023) raised concerns over Belgian police actions against activists.
Three members of Extinction Rebellion are upset with the Bruges police and are filing a formal complaint. They say that after their protest on March 22nd, 2025, was over, they were stopped by a police officer on a motorcycle who intimidated them. The activists were then taken to the police station and held there.
When they were in custody, the activists claimed that they were compelled to remove their clothes without being told to do so by the police. Extinction Rebellion is claiming that the arrests were excessive and that compelling individuals to remove their clothes was wrong. They want to know if the police were allowed to do these things.
Are Bruges police using excessive force on the extinction Rebellion?
The Bruges police are investigating the complaint made by the 3 Extinction Rebellion activists. The police will look at the report about what happened and talk to both the activists and the officers involved. They will also look at any video from police body cameras and street cameras to see if the arrests and strip searches were justified. The police say they will consider all the facts to decide if the police acted legally and fairly.
According to the police spokesperson, Lien Depoorter, anyone who thinks the police treated them unfairly can make a complaint. The police take these complaints seriously. He mentioned that this makes people think about how police treat activists and how they use force. How the investigation turns out will affect how people think about the Bruges police.
This isn’t the first time Extinction Rebellion has had problems with the Belgian police. In the past, courts have ruled that the police were wrong to arrest members of Extinction Rebellion. In 2021, a court said the police had no reason to arrest them in 2019.
In 2023, another court said the police used too much force against activists in 2019. Officials mentioned that these legal fights show that people are worried about how the police handle environmental protests in Belgium.
