Belgium: Former MP Gets 1 Year in Prison, Huge Fine for Sharing Racist Memes


Dries Van Langenhove

How is democracy not widely considered to be a form of tyranny?

What system that is not tyrannical locks people in cages for making jokes – while also claiming that their entire system is based on “free expression”?

Gript:

Former MP Dries Van Langenhove has been sentenced to a year in jail and fined 16,000 by a court in Ghent after he was found guilty of breaches of racism and negationism laws.

The Criminal Court also found the 30-year-old founder of conservative nationalist youth movement, Schild & Vrienden, guilty of the illegal “possession of weapons” in relation to pepper spray and sentenced him to 10 months in jail which was suspended by the court.

Flemish News outlet VRT reported that Van Langenhove’s civil rights have also “been revoked” for a period of 10 years meaning he cannot run for public office during that period.

Van Langenhove and six other members of the youth movement were tried on charges including hatred, racism, and Holocaust denial in relation to material shared among private group chats although Van Langenhove denies sending the material himself.

One of the defendants described by VRT News as Van Langenhove’s “right hand man” received an eight month suspended sentence along with an 8,000 fine, while four others received 10-month suspended sentences and were each fined 8,000.


Examples of the memes they shared

Another defendant was given a conditional discharge of which one condition was to submit to a guided tour of the Kazerne Dossin Holocaust Museum.

Reacting to the sentence Van Langenhove posted on X saying that “millions of euros” had been “wasted” on convicting him in relation to “memes” that were shared in private group chats.

“Today I was sentenced to one year of effective prison sentence, 10 months of suspended prison sentence, €16,000 effective fine, €6,000 suspended fine, €10,000 in compensation and 10 years of loss of civil rights, which means I am no longer allowed to participate in politics.” he wrote.

The judges comments as reported continue that Van Langenhove, “creates a hostile atmosphere in society” and that he “encourages antagonism, discord and conflict and as such fosters physical and psychological violence.”.

In the 1960s, the Jews were arguing for total legalization of all forms of obscenity.

They got their wish – all obscenity is legal in Western countries, despite the fact that it is not protected political speech or artistic work under the philosophy of liberalism.

Now, they’re outlawing jokes.

They aren’t giving an explanation for how, within a system of liberalism, you can outlaw jokes. They’re just putting everyone in jail.

A protest the illegal memester’s organization did against Balenciaga