The Belgian city of Antwerp on Tuesday (June 9) confirmed removing a statue of colonial-era leader, King Leopold II.
Reuters reports that two online petitions had been launched seeking his statues across the country to be removed.
During one of the recent protests inspired by the “Black Lives Matter” campaign from the United States, protesters in Brussels climbed a statue of the king waving the Democratic Republic of Congo flag chanting “murderer.”
Elsewhere across the country, his statues were defaced with red paint; signifying blood for the atrocities that his reign unleashed in the Congo.
In the city of Ghent, a bust of Leopold II was covered in red paint and daubed with “I can’t breathe.”
