The Liège Criminal Court has sentenced seventeen syndicalists, administrators and members of the socialist trade union ABVV-FGTB to suspended prison sentences for maliciously obstructing traffic during a strike. Among them is chairman Thierry Bodson. The union representatives blocked the E40 on October 19, 2015. Due to the nuisance, the operation of a Danish tourist had to start later. The woman did not survive the procedure. The ABVV will appeal against the verdict.
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About 300 protesters blocked the E40 viaduct in Cheratte, a district of Visé in the province of Liège. That action had major consequences. For example, the viaduct was vandalized and doctors and surgeons were blocked in the resulting traffic jams.
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“Involuntary homicide”
Following the strike, Hermalle-sous-Argenteau hospital filed a complaint for involuntary manslaughter. According to the management, it cannot be ruled out that a Danish woman died because her operation started too late. “We are not saying that the patient died from that blockage, but that the operation was clearly less likely to be successful,” a spokesperson clarified after the facts. However, the court did not pass judgment on the death itself.
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Six union officials, including Bodson, were sentenced to one month’s suspended prison sentences and suspended fines of 600 euros. The eleven other protesters were sentenced to 15 days in jail.
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In appeal
The union will appeal the verdict. “Whether the suspects actually participated in that organized blocking action apparently does not matter. It becomes so rigorously impossible to carry out any form of protest action on the public road, ”it said in a statement.
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The union regrets that some activists bear more responsibility for this action than others. According to the ABVV, the verdict is also part of a larger body of decisions that call into question the right to strike in Belgium. The union therefore wants to organize a general protest action on December 1.
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