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Belgian prison workers hold demonstration in Brussels

Xinhua, May 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

Hundreds of prison guards and union activists gathered Tuesday outside the headquarters of the Reformist Movement (MR) party and the Federal Public Service (SPF) Justice in Brussels.

Police said the demonstrators gathered to challenge the way the federal government responded to the strikes that have rocked the prisons in Brussels and Wallonia, the largely French-speaking region of Belgium, for several weeks.

According to local media, the social action turned violent and the police had to intervene.

Prison officers began the protest at 10:00 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) outside the MR headquarters. According to Belgian newspaper Le Soir, the building's facade was pummelled with eggs by the protesters.

The demonstrators then moved to the SPF Justice (Office of Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens) and attempted to enter the premises. Although they managed to get in by force, they were pushed back by police using batons and tear gas.

The unionists were evacuated before noon.

According to reports from Radio Television Belge Francophone (RTBF), the justice minister expressed his "profound indignation at the indiscriminate violence that has been used in the preparation of the interview he had agreed with the delegation of prison officials."

The federal government has been beset by harsh criticism for several weeks about its prison policy. The response from the Department of Justice has so far not satisfied prison staff. Endit