Free space in trouble

[An archist]

Squattus dei (the last louvain squat) is in trouble.

The building that is being squatted belongs to opus dei, who want to turn it into a residence for students (to be indoctrinated).
The squatters will most likely get evicted somewhere in the following month or so.
The day of the eviction (whenever that is) we plan a protet in front of the city hall on the 'grote markt' at 8 o clock.
The eviction is even more disgusting because mayor Tobback said before the elections he wanted more creativity in louvain. The people who know the place will tell you that it was a breeding grounds for all sorts of art, now that will be destroyed for crazy religious fundamentalists.

for more info:
http://www.geocities.com/squattusdei/

[Qwerty Dvorak]

Can't understand the site I'm afraid. Can you give us some background to the situation? I'm assuming Opus Dei are the ones who legitimately own the building, and it is not Opus Dei who are squatting? If this is true, who exactly is squatting there? And what are these squatters entitled to by the local squatters' rights laws, if there are any?

[An archist]

indeed, opus dei are the legal owners of the building, hence the new name for the building: squattus dei.
Opus dei got the building from a doctor who owned it, but left it empty for 7 years. So in 2000, a group of squatters occupied the building.
Now it's being used as a social centre, a place for concerts, benefits, art expositions, info-nights, give-away shop, ...
basically an anarchist, open-minded social centre, the last free place in town where there was some genuine creativity and for people with alternative views to meet.
now Opus Dei want their building back, they want to use ot for a student residence and they have got their building permit for the place, so the police are expected to come quite soon.
Needless to say, that would be a serious blow to the anarchist movement in louvain since it is the place to meet other anarchists (and even communists), pretty much the center of rebellion.

EDIT: there are no laws in Belgium that allow squatting under any circumstances, you can only squat if the owner agrees.