Activists in the Code Red movement have repeatedly denounced that the company Total Energies is polluting the environment and harming local communities to make greater profits. They have therefore blocked the factory in the Belgian city of Feluy and protested against its plant in Antwerp.
According to the Code Rouge group that has called for the protest, some 700 people have met this weekend on the outskirts of the Feluy factory and cut roads and railways. The blockade has been maintained for almost two days, even though the local governor had already given the order not to demonstrate on the spot. The police have mobilized cars, boats and a helicopter with the aim of controlling the movement of demonstrators. The protest has not taken place at any time and has developed in a festive atmosphere, as you can read on the website of Contre Attaque. However, they have denounced that the police have persecuted them from the day before, and that several people have been identified, according to the RTBF website.
In Antwerp, on the contrary, the police have stepped up attacks on activists who have tried to cut roads and arrested 270 people.
The Code Rouge collective has criticized the decisions of companies and political authorities such as Total, who continue to deploy "devastating activities" in the midst of a climate crisis. It's absurd. "The fossil fuel industry, year after year, makes greater profits at the expense of citizens. Throughout the world, ordinary citizens are obliged to deal with the consequences of the ecological and social crisis that this activity entails". In fact, the energy company Total Energies has been present on several occasions, even in our environment. In 2022, for example, the company director made a visit to Ezpeleta (Lapurdi) in which Bizi protested! the collective, to denounce their responsibility in the climate emergency.