By my count, this is the third time the police have come to Paul Belien's door and demanded the right to interrogate him:
This morning the police came to my door again to question me about allegedly racist articles on The Brussels Journal. I was not in. Tonight the local police phoned to “invite” me urgently to the police station. In Belgium any leftist or totalitarianist can lodge a complaint against “internet racism” through a Belgian government website and the judiciary starts an investigation. Apparently someone in Ghent has lodged a complaint against this website.
I am not allowed to know who this person is, but I am requested to come to the police station to be interrogated. I told the officer that I refuse to justify my writings for anonymous complaints. “I am not living in the Soviet Union,” I told him (though I fear I am).
As a matter of principle I will not go to the police station. I defend the freedom of the press, which implies the right of journalists not to be questioned by the authorities about articles and opinions that they write or edit.
I told the officer that if the police wants to question me they will have to arrest me. The Belgian authorities are clearly intent on intimidating us and closing down this website.
As Paul Belien has said before, it seems the lights may be starting to go out in Europe.
6 comments:
I put it on my blog and emailed it to some of the big folks...
Maybe they shold host the site OUTSIDE THE NETHERLANDS..I am sure some of us know people who would be happy to donat some hard disk real estate on servers ..
The site hass always been hosted in the US. They can't do so much about it in Belgium.
This shows more the totalitarian influx of the green/left government in Flanders. Cordon Sanitaire around Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest). With the CS, for the VB, the biggest party in Flanders is it impossible to take part in governing. In fact this is something like a coup d'etat, the opposition is killed. Now they're going for the intellectuals. Make them mouthdead with harasment. From who did they learn it you think? Stalin and/or Mohammed?
Kris,
I have heard about what the Belgian government did to Vlaams Belang, but the info we get here is that VB is a racist party? Could you give me more info?
Pastorius,
When the Vlaams Blok got started 20y ago, it begun as an extreme right party, working for (1) the separation of Belgium in 2 separate states: Flanders and Wallonia. (2) Amnesty for FLemish collaborators of WOII, Had links with Neo -Nazi organisations and his own private-militia VMO. Rascist and anti-left.
VB was a little party than, less than 1% of the votes.
VMO has been dissolved due to a new law which forbade privé-militias.
VB came up mid 90's with a 70-point program, which has been seen as holding rascist elements. Brought to court and sentenced for rascism. After the court ordeal, they changed name to Vlaams Belang.
In origin VB was a rascist party. It has grown in time. The influx of people has bought it on a more moderate point of vieuw. They have also Immigrants on their party list, there are even Muslims voting for them. Racist, I don't think anymore at the moment. Islamophobe, yes. Islamophobe is a vieuw of reality and a title of honor. Rascist, there are still founders of the party, who will hold to personal vieuws, it is not anymore the party line.
Write you more about it, if you like, look up some documents. Got to start with some history over Belgium with that.
Thanks for filling me in, Kris.
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