The criminal court of Leuven on Tuesday sentenced Georges B., a 77-year-old pensioner, to a one-year prison sentence for violating the law on Holocaust denial and racism. The septuagenarian thus receives the maximum penalty for having decorated his house in Keerbergen with visible Nazi symbols.
The accused had decorated his home with various Nazi symbols such as swastikas and flags. He also posted anti-Semitic messages on his mailbox and in the trees. These were also clearly visible from the public highway. The man also made the Hitler salute in his garden.
Following a complaint lodged by Unia, the Interfederal Center for Equal Opportunities Georges B. therefore had to respond to an offense against the law on Holocaust denial of March 23, 1995, and more specifically of apology for the Nazi regime during The Second World War. The accused was also charged with violating the anti-racism law of 30 July 1981, which seeks to suppress incitement to hatred and violence. The court found the two claims established in a particularly well reasoned judgment. “The approval of the genocide has been demonstrated by the investigation” thus declared the judge. “There is various evidence to suggest that the defendant glorifies Nazi ideology, in particular by placing symbols and inscriptions on his house. He grew up in a Nazi family so that the ideas conveyed by Hitler could easily have convinced him.” And the judge to refer to a statement from the interested party. “In his eyes, the Jews are the shame of the world”. The conclusions of the social inquiry ordered in December of last year were also taken into account by the judgment. “He tried to convince the justice assistant that he had done no harm to anyone with his extremist attitude. The negative manner in which he sought to attract attention is in stark contrast to the immense suffering caused by the From a societal point of view, we must put an end to the actions of the accused. “ The court followed the requisitions of the prosecution and imposed the maximum penalty provided for, one year in prison, despite the age of the accused and his clean criminal record. The man was also fined 800 euros (GOOD 800 euros). The man who defended himself did not appear in court Tuesday while he was still present at previous hearings.
Return the house to its original condition
Unia, who had brought a civil action, obtained damages of 500 euros as well as the obligation for the defendant to restore the house to its original state. Various Nazi symbols were also confiscated. “It is a good thing for a democratic society that this story ends”, was delighted Tuesday Patrick Charlier, the director of Unia. “We have highlighted in Unia’s 2019 annual report the increasingly frequent and open use of Nazi symbols and rhetoric in public space”, continues Patrick Charlier. “Justice has already condemned Hitler’s salvation, as an explicit and conscious reference to the fascist ideology. Whoever makes this gesture incites hatred or violence. With the Nazi house in Keerbergen, it is Nazi symbolism that is now doomed. ”
–
