Belgian court convicts Dries Van Langenhove and Schild & Vrienden members for racism, negationism, and weapon violations; civil rights restrained.
On Tuesday morning, A key figure in the Belgian far-right, Dries Van Langenhove was sentenced by the criminal court in Ghent to an effective prison verdict of 1 year for breaches of the racism and negationism law. He also received a 10-month prison sentence for breaches of the weapons law and was restrained of his civil rights for 10 years. 5 of the 6 other defendants during the Schild & Vrienden trial also received a suspended prison sentence of 6 to 8 months.
Dries Van Langenhove, a political activist and part of a Flemish-nationalist youth movement called Schild & Vrienden, was convicted of instigating violence and renouncing the Holocaust, the Ghent criminal court decided on Tuesday morning. The 30-year-old Van Langenhove was “debauched in Nazi views that cause much suffering. He wants to damage society,” a judge said when declaring the ruling.
The leader of Schild & Vrienden climbed to fame as a political prodigy in the late 2010s, managing far right-minded youngsters in online chat groups and via protests. A 2018 TV report by public commentator VRT revealed that members of the group were swapping racist and antisemitic messages in group discussions, triggering a judicial inquiry into the movement. This also included several hundred memes or internet cartoons. According to the source, these were harmless jokes, but the court also started an investigation into 65,000 of those messages.
In the case, The public prosecutor requested for Van Langenhove – “the leader and instigator of a racist and negationist system” – a total prison sentence of 2 years and a penalty of 24,000 euros. For the other 6 defendants, the public prosecutor’s office asked for a prison sentence of 6 months and an 8,000 euro fine.
“We have tried to separate the wheat from the chaff and go behind the system,” the Public Prosecution Service stated during a hearing earlier this year. “It is clear that the defendants here, whether they have posted much, little or nothing, are part of an association that has systematically induced discrimination, racial segregation, hatred, and violence.”
Van Langenhove contested for elected office in 2019 and posed in the country’s federal parliament from 2019-2023 as an independent member in the political group of Vlaams Belang, Flanders’ main far-right party that exerts an anti-immigrant rhetoric and wants to turn Flanders into a fully independent, breakaway state.
After the verdict, he responded via social media, briefly. “The activists of Schild & Vrienden can’t be blamed for anything other than some memes. So humor. Memes that I didn’t even post myself.”
According to his lawyer, he will not have to go to jail for the time being. “His lawyer has stated that they will appeal and such an appeal puts the ruling ‘on hold’,” This also applies to the other sentences he received.
Around ten civil society organizations, including Kif Kif and çavaria, have welcomed the decision and responded satisfactorily to the verdict in the Schild & Friends case. “This is a historic victory with major consequences for Vlaams Belang and the upcoming elections,” says Nina Henkens, coordinator of the anti-racist platform Kif Kif vzw.
“The ruling is historic and a victory for our democracy and the rule of law,” states Henkens. “It shows that there is no free pass for orchestrated hatred and the targeting of minority groups, not even online and in closed chat groups. The victory comes through the hard work of civil society organizations and the courage and perseverance of the civil parties.”
