2023-10-20 17:17:28
“Terrible mistake”
For the Minister of Justice, this is an extremely serious error with tragic consequences: “EAs Minister of Justice, I cannot in any way interfere in the decisions of a magistrate, even if it is an individual and independent decision. However, I would like to take responsibility for this unacceptable error.“, he told journalists.I’m absolutely not looking for excuses. I am not trying to find pretexts (…) I transmitted this information to the Prime Minister and I announced to him my resignation as Minister of Justice. I sincerely want to apologize, on behalf of the justice system, to the victims and their loved ones. I would also like to apologize on behalf of the justice system to the Swedish people and our fellow Belgian citizens“, he concluded at the end of this surprise press conference.
In fact, the announcement of a press conference was only made around 6:30 p.m., thus giving the media barely time to get to the office of the Minister of Justice.
Since the start of the investigation into this attack, the minister had promised to demonstrate transparency.
Minister of Justice since October 2020
Vincent Van Quickenborne, Flemish Belgian politician and member of Open Vld, was born on August 1, 1973 in Ghent. He held various positions, including Minister of Pensions and Deputy Prime Minister under the Di Rupo government. Currently, he is Mayor of Kortrijk and Minister of Justice and the North Sea in the government led by Alexander De Croo.
Van Quickenborne completed his secondary education in 1991 at St. Barbara’s College in Ghent and obtained his law degree at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in 1996. After that, he practiced as a lawyer at the Kortrijk Bar .
He is particularly known for having been at the origin of a controversial reform of the pension system in 2012.
In 2012, in the municipal elections, Van Quickenborne ended the CD&V’s domination of Kortrijk and became mayor in 2013, leaving the federal government to be replaced by Alexander De Croo.
In September 2022, he was the subject of an attempted kidnapping, linked to the increase in violence linked to drug trafficking.
In November 2022, following the fatal attack on a police officer by a radical Islamist in Brussels, Van Quickenborne and Annelies Verlinden, head of the interior, were criticized. He promised to improve police protection and asked for a report on the case.
In April 2023, Van Quickenborne proposed a restriction on the right to protest.
In September 2023, he was involved in “pipigate”, accused of lying following a controversial party he hosted, which sparked controversy.
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