Around midnight on 21st April three people from the Lappersfort forest occupation in Brugge, Belgium were arrested.
They were on their way back to the forest on foot when they were sprung on by at least 6 pigs dressed in black & a police dog who were waiting on ambush. At the moment all we know is they are accused of damaging/vandalising a road being constructed through the forest.
The road construction began in sept.08 and was met with large protest from the local community, as part of the Lappersfort forest by the canal was to be destroyed to make way for its construction. Activists managed to occupy the threatened trees on the first night of construction (sept. 2nd) despite a police cordon of some 250 piggies, and delayed work for some hours. Since then, throughout the 7 months of the occupation the construction company, police & media have accused the occupiers of sabotage against their pumps and cranes, without any proof or charges.
The arrests are part of an ongoing sequence of repression. Less than 2 weeks ago two people were finally released from Brugge prison after spending 10 days in the cell based on false charges and fabricated stories from the Brugge cops. On the day of the latest 3 arrests, undercover and uniformed piggies had been seen around the forest and talking with the construction workers, and the nature of the arrest shows that the cops here in Brugge are simply trying to find any excuse, real or not, to arrest as many people as possible.
We don’t know yet exactly what their charges are, or when the 3 people will be released, but they are already in custody for more than 12 hours, which means they are arrested juridically and will have to see a judge in the Brugge courthouse sometime tomorrow.
lappersfort occupiers – lappersfort@gmail.com