Capital of the EUSSR 8: An Answer to Carolyn

Carolyn, a reader from Detroit, wrote me an email, asking

“Would you, please, provide follow-ups on what happened to the politicians so brutalized [by the police during the 9/11 demonstration in Brussels]? What happened to others, and what, if anything, transpires in Belgian Parliament, and the EU Parliament? Will anyone bring a lawsuit against the police? […] Who gave the original orders? From where in the government is this all coming? What happened to the young German woman with the Israeli flag and your friend who was arrested? What is the reaction in the press, both local and national? Was anyone in Italy outraged by their politician being beaten and arrested? Who is buying off the Belgian, or Brussels, police and politicians? Have there been any counter-protests against the police? Are churches being attacked? What can be done? What is the position of the Banking, Financial, and Corporate leaders? Where is the Jewish Community in all of this?”

Dear Carolyn, the politicians and all the other people who were detained were released around 8 pm on Tuesday. Under Belgian law, a mayor can order the police to detain people, even without pressing charges, for a maximum of 12 hours. There is a rumour that one person had a heart attack in prison, but that appears not to have been the case. Medics had to come in and give a man assistance but he was released with the others.

The Brussels authorities have announced that they will press charges against Frank Vanhecke and Filip Dewinter, the leaders of the Vlaams Belang party. According to the police the two politicians attacked the driver of the police bus in which they were forced to take place. As one can clearly see on the video footing, however, Mr. Vanhecke’s hands had been tied behind his back and Mr. Dewinter’s arm got stuck between the bus door and the police hit his hand with a baton. It is unclear how they could have assaulted the bus driver.

Mr. Vanhecke and Mr. Dewinter are pressing charges against the police for the violence to which they were submitted as well as for the deprivation of their freedom. Their lawyer, Hugo Coveliers, is preparing a case on their behalf as well as on behalf of everyone else who was arrested and/or brutalized and would like to press charges. These people can contact Mr Coveliers (in Dutch, English, German or French) here.

However, this is Belgium, dear Carolyn, not the United States. Hence, there is barely a chance that a court case against the police or the Brussels mayor can be won. The courts are controlled by the Belgian political establishment, as everyone in Belgium knows and as you too might already have noticed.

The Italian government formally complained about the arrest of Mario Borghezio, the Italian member of the European Parliament who was arrested together with Mr. Vanhecke. The Belgian government offered its apologies, but it has not demanded an inquiry into the police violence, let alone that the Belgian authorities intend to punish those responsible for it. Hence, what are these apologies worth? Nothing. Moreover, the government did not apologize to Mr. Vanhecke, who, like Mr. Borghezio, is also a member of the European Parliament, and whom the police officers subjected to a vicious genital grip.

What about the press, dear Carolyn? I am sorry to say that we do not have a free press. Apart from one local newspaper (Het Belang van Limburg, in Limburg, Flanders’ most eastern province) all the Belgian media failed to mention that the Belgian government felt compelled to offer its apologies to Italy. The papers have not mentioned other international protests, such as that of Vladimir Palko, the former Slovak Interior Minister, either. True, last Wednesday the papers criticized the Brussels mayor Freddy Thielemans for the excessive police brutalities, but the reason why they did so was “because being maltreated in public will make the Vlaams Belang even more popular.” Not because freedom of speech or basic political and human rights have been violated. Who cares about these things? Not even the Council of Europe, apparently.

On one of the videos which we posted (the second one here) you can clearly hear Mr. Vanhecke talk to the police when they grab hold of him. “I am a member of the European Parliament,” he says. “I enjoy parliamentary immunity.” This does not stop the police from arresting him, however. (The man wearing the green scarf and standing right behind Mr. Vanhecke, is Mr. Borghezio.) When Mr. Vanhecke is forced into the police bus he says “What is happening in Brussels today, is this democracy? Is this freedom of speech?” whereupon the policemen drag him off the bus, saying “Haven’t you finished yet? This is not a political platform here.” They throw him on the ground, start beating him up, tie his hands behind his back, kick him in the kidneys and grab him in his private parts – an offence which as Diana West, a Jewish American newspaper columnist who knows Mr Vanhecke personally, writes “would get any American policeman thrown off the force.”

Dear Carolyn, I know that for you as an American this is hard to understand, but in Belgium the police gets away with this kind of conduct. The press is controlled by the regime and does not protest, apart from complaining that Mr. Vanhecke will only become more popular because he has been maltreated. The judiciary is controlled by the regime, too, and will not punish the police officers nor their superiors nor those politically responsible. On the contrary, the latter are most likely smirking that they have pinched the leader of the country’s largest opposition party in the balls. You ask how the church, the Jewish community, the banking, financial and corporate leaders have reacted. They have not reacted. Belgians consider this to be normal police behaviour, at least when it is directed at non-immigrants. If the same thing had happened to Muslim demonstrators, the press would have been indignant and the officers would have been charged and fired, while the mayor of Brussels would have been forced to resign, but not now.

I fear that at the European level the situation is the same. Although the immunity of three members of the European Parliament (Mr. Borghezio, Mr. Vanhecke and the Frenchman Carl Lang) was violated and one of them was publicly humiliated, I doubt whether the European Parliament will demand that the Belgian authorities punish those responsible. And it is exactly because the EP fails to do this that one cannot respect this institution, just as one cannot respect the Belgian police, the Belgian press, the Belgian judiciary and the Belgian government. Regime change will be necessary.

Jewish? What are we talking about?

I think its pretty childish to suddenly drag in the Jewish community here. Same for the protester with the Israeli flag. Regardless of the alleged arrest for such vague grounds (which should be condemned), I think it weakens the point of such protest significantly to suddenly drag in all kinds of reference to who-knows-what we can think off. The Israeili case is only in very particular settings a relevant match (e.g. a pro-Palestine action or antisemitism)
I don´t know Detroit, but here in Europe it should still be possible to make a point about the islamization of Europe without dragging the Jews in. I´m sure they themselves will be happy to leave it that way too... 

And people in Europe are

And people in Europe are surprised when the Brits want to leave the E.U. 

The sooner the E.U. is brought tumbling  down,  the better for all of the people in Europe . Then we can say " free at last , thank God , we are free at last ".

Shocked

I'm shocked.  As a Canadian who couldn't be there, I sent a flag that someone kindly agreed to carry at the demonstration.  When I first saw the videos coming out of the demonstration I couldn't believe it.  Had those tactics been used by the RCMP or any other police force here there would have been multiple enquiries and non-stop press hoopla.  Good grief, right now in Ontario the natives have physically taken control of a housing project in clear violation of several court injunctions, and beaten someone almost to death in the process, and yet the police are not allowed to stop it lest they tread on someone's rights.  During the G8 summit, the demonstrators rioted and the police were castigated for using teargas to break it up...never mind using physical force.

In Brussels, a group of people congregated peacefully and demonstrated against something they see, with good reason, to be a threat.  They were broken up and the leaders arrested by the use of obviously disproportionate and unnecessary force.  What "other side of the story" can there be? 

To ScottSA

Notice the junk media (belgian) coverage too...

"Ooooo they evil VB guys assaulted a police officer in the bus they were forcibly shoved into with their hands tied in their back !"

Uhu... And you clearly see in the video that fat cop yelling to the journalists "NO PRESS, WALK BACK AND LET US DO OUR JOB"... While his buddies beat up people.

If this was a real democracy these "cops" would have been hung by the balls before court and kicked out of the force immediately.

Correction

@ pvdh

 

I think you have a point about some of the language used here.  The comparison with the USSR is not a valid one, yet.  At the same time, the trend should be clear....even to you.  There is significant less freedom of political speech today in Belgium, than when I was growing up there over half a century ago.  And European integration has not helped IN THAT REGARD, because the same authoritarian forces that have captured 'education and media, and thus the political system' in several west-European countries, are mightily doing the same at the European level. Although I remain hopeful that some other European countries and cultures will prove in the end more resistant to the ongoing authoritarian-creep than Belgium has.

However, I think you are wrong to claim that the TBJ coverage has been "one-sided".  It apears certainly much more 'factual' than what one can read in most of the Belgian media (or worse, what one cannot find in those media).   Instead of being "one-sided", the Brussels Journal has helped illustrate and demonstrate that there is no genuine freedom of political speech in Belgium, and that judicial independence (always a very difficult ideal that PREsupposes certain cultural attainments) remains very much to be desired in Belgium. 

@USSR

Your point about the one-sided coverage is well taken.  However, BJ is doing it's part while the vast majority of the Belgian and foreign media decline to do theirs - hence the perception of unbalanced coverage. Alternative media outlets like BJ (and many others) should neither apologize for showing up their mainstream competitors, nor reduce their coverage to create an even playing field. 

USSR

I don’t want to spoil your little party here, but please bear in mind that the Brussels journal was directly involved, and is thus showing only one side of the story here. And putting Belgium and Europe on the same level as the USSR is a big insult for all those dissidents that where tortured and eventually died in the Russian gulag. It’s like Palestinians that can’t enter Al Aqsa calling the Israeli police Nazi’s.   

 

@peter

Don't you worry man, i know all about police methods for having experienced them first hand.

They're like the nazi gestapo, no better.

Not to mention most of them are uneducated, underqualified low-profile people.

All you need to get an uniform in this country is a basic school diploma (i don't know the equivalence in america, make it the basic "when you turn 18" paper)

The more stormtroopers the better. There isn't a week in belgium without a case that involves groups of cops in illegal and violent activities.

Just 2 weeks ago they caught 6 of them that were racketeering prostitutes and druggies, kinda like mafia "protection money".

@LeshracVNN

Your last line made me laugh.  However, it is sad to see a citizen as yourself defend your yourself from robbery and then wind up in jail while your robber is freed.

 

Leshrac, do you belong to an organization that protests?

 

If not, pass this idea on to one...

 

The next time there is a protest, have protesters waving large signs that say:

"Bush, invade Belgium next-we want regime change!"

Not for the moment :/

My ressources are limited as about now, when they'll get better I'll surely step up somewhere.

Oh, did you know that stating you're against gun control is considered radical and dangerous extremism in this insane country ?

It can even get you in jail... So much for "democracy and free speech" heh...

Scandal yes, belgium...

Remember it's belgium.

I myself was prosecuted (and still am) for voicing my opinion on various forums and internet outlets.

What happens when you criticize the establishment for it's violations free speech, right to defend yourself, right to a fair trial, etc... ?

They raid your house, steal your belongings (force you to "abandon" them, saying you'll go to jail if you don't), beat you up, lock you up for several hours while making enough noise to make sure you won't sleep (yes, it's true).

Then they present you in front of an ignorant magistrate, saying "what you do is evil and we can't allow you to spread anti-democratic propaganda"; while he/she can't even align 3 sentences in french without making 15 spelling and grammatical errors.

After that you're either "lucky", meaning you get to go home and have to "report" everything fucking thing you do to the police; or you get "unlucky" and the peace-loving, democratic, free-speech regime locks up you under some bullshit pretext.

I barely escaped the "unlucky" option.

What were my crimes ? Demonstrating belgium is viscerally corrupt, free speech inexistant and defending my life.

(Got mugged, pulled off a pellet gun, neutralized the attacker, got arrested for "illegal possession of weapon"... while the attacker was set free a few hours after his "arrest".)

Police here really hates the people, they're the lowest of the low (liège). They're like street scum with an uniform; they'll take every chance to hurt and harass you, all the while pretending it's "their job". Kinda the high school bully who had such low expectations in life he decided to sell it to the government.

I'm not for or against Vlaams Belang but i feel everyone should have a right to opine and state his opinions.

Unfortunately, the south is too far gone into being an ignorant, administrative, corrupt place.

This is socialism gone mad. Political correctness at all floors to make sure everyone is formatted into thinking the same bullshit about the same subjects, whereas different opinions are automatically labelled "anti-democratic extremist freak propaganda".

Most sad part of the story ? The majority of the south is dumb enough to buy it all without question... They're even proud of it !

A free thinker from liège.

The Police

From the video it seemed to me that they were enjoying the roundup and the assaults. Vicious.

@sonomaca

Bring it on dude, come show us some of your "wisdom".

I'd like to see how you're gonna do it with no guns, no democracy whatsoever, total media blackout or government controlled outlets that will spread reverse propaganda faster than the wind ?

What are the odds?

I wouldn't mind betting that if somebody was to do an analysis,they would find that this story has been (negatively) covered more comprehensively in the Muslim world than in our own Western media.It's a scandal!