Verlinden defends the actions of order services at an illegal rave party: “Consciously chosen to avoid battle” | Interior

Many people have wondered in recent days why the police seemed to tolerate the rave party on the military domain in Brustem. According to Verlinden, this is partly due to the fact that a large group of ravers was already present on the domain before the size became clear. Due to the vastness of the domain, action was not easy.

“We were confronted with an unprecedented event here. The security forces chose to avoid a battle. It was about a large group of drugged ravers in an inaccessible area. It would have been unsafe to play a cat-and-mouse game then,” says Verlinden.

The minister emphasizes that the police recorded number plates, issued police reports and issued fines. “It is not because it was not violently ended that it was tolerated. Facts have happened that we cannot accept.”

LOOK. What are the organizers of the illegal rave risking?

Verlinden also parried the criticism that the police services had not seen this large-scale event coming, while our country did succeed in foiling attacks, for example. “We have very good intelligence and security services in our country, but there is no law that allows police to infiltrate secret groups on social media. We will of course analyze this to see how we can prevent this in the future.”

Finally, the Minister of the Interior also defended her presence at the cup final between Antwerp and KV Mechelen. After all, the Truiense mayor and the Limburg governor could be found on the site. “I was in contact with the local services every hour, but the operational management was with the governor. It’s not because I wasn’t in front of the cameras that I didn’t follow up,” says Verlinden.