From LifeSiteNews

By Michael Haynes

Condemnation of Mayor Kir’s crackdown on NatCon was wide-ranging, and not merely from the dignitaries speaking at it. The British prime minister’s deputy spokesman called the scenes “extremely disturbing.”

Thanks to a successful challenge from pro-freedom legal organization ADF International, a Belgian court has struck down an order from the local authorities which saw an “international incident” created after police blockaded the National Conservatism conference in Brussels, Belgium yesterday. 

In an early morning announcement April 17, ADF International announced that a Belgian court “has struck down state censorship,” thus allowing the National Conservatism (or NatCon) conference to proceed undeterred into its second day today.

Via a press statement, ADF International wrote: 

In the decision, considered a victory for free speech, the court decided that ‘Article 26 of the Constitution [of Belgium] grants everyone the right to assemble peacefully,’ and although the mayor has the authority to make police ordinances in case of ‘serious disturbance of the public peace or other unforeseen events,’ in this case there was no sufficient threat of violence to justify this. 

The Court reasoned that ‘it does not seem possible to infer from the contested decision that a peace-disrupting effect is attributed to the congress itself.’ Rather, as the decision notes, ‘the threat to public order seems to be derived purely from the reactions that its organization might provoke among opponents.’

READ: Socialist Belgian mayor orders police to shut down event featuring Cardinal Müller, Orbán, Farage

The Brussels NatCon conference currently taking place was catapulted to the fore of international headlines on Tuesday, when local police moved to shut the event down, under orders of the local mayor. 

As LifeSiteNews reported, the Socialist mayor of the Saint-Josse-ten-Noode municipality – Emir Kir – ordered the police to shut down the two-day conference to “guarantee public safety.”

Footage and images flooded social media around midday, showing lines of police barricading the conference venue, prohibiting anyone from entering. Those already inside were not allowed back in if they left. 

The conference is hardly a fringe event. High-profile guests and speakers include Vatican prelate Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orbán, former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, former French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, former U.K. politician and Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, and previous U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

The police clampdown was initiated as Braverman was arriving and Zemmour was refused entry by the police.

NatCon organizers also stated that the catering had been canceled, and participants only had limited access to water and food as the police were preventing the delivery of supplies. Those still effectively locked inside the conference venue by nightfall were able to partake of a gala dinner, and then left the building. 

Paul Coleman, ADF International’s executive director, shared an English translation of the police order on X yesterday afternoon. The mayor’s order cited the “ethically conservative” position espoused by speakers at NatCon, “e.g., hostility to legalized abortion, same-sex unions, etc.,” along with a “Eurosceptic” mindset among his reasons for deploying the police.

The conference, being held on premises operated by Claridge Events, had already been forced to find new venues on two occasions in the preceding days, as pressure was placed on them to cancel the conference due to its promotion of “conservative” talking points. 

The Claridge venue was the third home for the event. NatCon’s hastily found backup venue broke “its written contract” to host the event on Monday night, according to NatCon organizer Yoram Hazony, hours before the conference was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning. 

Welcoming the court ruling to allow NatCon to proceed unimpeded, Coleman stated:

While common sense and justice have prevailed, what happened yesterday is a dark mark on European democracy. No official should have the power to shut down free and peaceful assembly merely because he disagrees with what is being said. How can Brussels claim to be the heart of Europe if its officials only allow one side of the European conversation to be heard?

Coleman attested that Tuesday’s “kind of authoritarian censorship we have just witnessed belongs in the worst chapters of Europe’s history. Thankfully, the Court has acted swiftly to prevent the repression of our fundamental freedoms to both assembly and speech, thus protecting these essential characteristics of democracy for another day.”

Condemnation of Mayor Kir’s crackdown on NatCon was wide-ranging, and not merely from the dignitaries speaking at it. The British prime minister’s deputy spokesman called the scenes “extremely disturbing.”

“The Prime Minister is a strong supporter and advocate of free speech and believes it is fundamental to any democracy,” the spokesman added.

According to author and NatCon speaker Rod Dreher, Cardinal Müller went so far as to say the Belgian police action was “like Nazi Germany.” 

Just spoke to Cardinal Müller, who was visibly shocked by the police standing a few feet away, blocking entrance to NatCon. “This is like Nazi Germany,” he said. “They are like the SA.” (He gave me permission to quote him.) pic.twitter.com/TTX8lc8MQS

— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) April 16, 2024

Belgium’s pro-EU Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also condemned the actions taken by local police, in a signal move made against the local mayor. Writing on X yesterday evening he stated that “[w]hat happened at the Claridge today is unacceptable. Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy but can never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830. Banning political meetings is unconstitutional. Full stop.”

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

‘Until foreign interference is viewed as an existential threat to Canadian democracy and governments forcefully and actively respond, these threats will persist,’ reads the 2023 memo given to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office.

Details from a “top secret” memo have shown that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office was given explicit warnings by Canadian intelligence that agents of the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) meddling in the nation’s elections posed an “existential threat to Canadian democracy.”  

The disclosure that Trudeau’s office was warned of CCP meddling in Canada’s elections process came during testimony last week at the Foreign Interference Commission. 

Counsel for Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP Michael Chong observed that a “top secret” memo titled, Briefing To The Prime Minister’s Office On Foreign Interference Threats To Canada’s Democratic Institutions, dated February 21, 2023, was “truly” a “remarkable document” in what it revealed.  

The six-page memo went into full detail as to the extent of CCP subterfuge which targeted Canada’s Conservative Party in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. 

“State actors are able to conduct foreign interference successfully in Canada because there are few legal or political consequences,” reads the memo.  

“Until foreign interference is viewed as an existential threat to Canadian democracy and governments forcefully and actively respond, these threats will persist.” 

Trudeau has been coy and has never explicitly stated whether he was ever told by members of Canada’s intelligence agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), that the CCP agents’ actions were in breach of the nation’s Elections Act.  

The Foreign Interference Commission was convened to “examine and assess the interference by China, Russia, and other foreign states or non-state actors, including any potential impacts, to confirm the integrity of, and any impacts on, the 43rd and 44th general elections (2019 and 2021 elections) at the national and electoral district levels.”  

The Commission is being headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who had earlier said that she and her lawyers will remain “impartial” and will not be influenced by politics and began on January 29.   

In January, Hogue said that she would “uncover the truth whatever it may be.”   

Thus far, the commission has resulted in some interesting findings which are now public.  

Yesterday, LifeSiteNews reported how Chong testified before the inquiry that agents of the CCP could install a premier or prime minister of their choosing by infiltrating supposedly closed party leadership races. 

Last week, LifeSiteNews reported that this same memo showed that CCP agents did help to elect “pro-China” candidates after disclosing the existence of a large cash payments scheme totaling $250,000 made to so-called “pro-China” public office holders. 

Trudeau in 2023 denied he was warned by security officials  

Trudeau, in May of 2023, said to reporters that he did not know anything about CCP agents targeting conservative MPs.  

“The Canadian Security Intelligence Service knew about certain things but didn’t feel it reached a threshold that required them to pass it up out of CSIS,” he said.

“Was it briefed up out of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service? It was not,” he said, adding that “CSIS made the determination it wasn’t something that needed to be raised to a higher level because it wasn’t a significant enough concern.” 

The memo suggests that during the 2021 federal election, meddling efforts “were orchestrated or directed by the People’s Republic of China.” 

The unlawful conduct included “activities aimed at discouraging Canadians, particularly of Chinese heritage, from supporting the Conservative Party, leader Erin O’Toole and particularly Steveston-Richmond East candidate Kenny Chiu,” notes the memo. 

Last week, David Vigneault, who serves as CSIS director, told the inquiry that he supports the “conclusions” that the CCP was working to help elect China-friendly Canadian MPs.  

Thus far, the testimony at the Commission has revealed that former Conservative Party MP Kenny Chiu said he felt “betrayed” by the federal government after only now learning he was the target of agents of the CCP.  

Also, the public has learned via the inquiry from Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault that he was secretly warned by security agents of irregularities in the 2019 election. 

Recently, it was revealed that Trudeau’s office knew of security warnings against one of his MPs who was helped to get elected by Chinese agents yet kept him in the party regardless.  

When it comes to the CCP, many Canadians, especially pro-freedom Chinese Canadians, are concerned with the nation’s influence in what is supposed to be a democratic process. 

As for Trudeau, he has in the past praised China for its “basic dictatorship” and has labeled the authoritarian nation as his favorite country other than his own.