2023-09-29 17:50:00
New twist in the case that has been pursuing Conner Rousseau for several days. Several Flemish media reported that the president of Vooruit had behaved scandalously on the night of September 1 to 2, during a particularly alcoholic evening. The first articles reported racist remarks made once morest members of the Roma community, in front of police officers.
These elements would appear in a police report. A report from Flemish television VTM News as well as an article from HLN were to appear soon, taking up passages from the official report established once morest Rousseau. When the editorial staff asked Rousseau to comment, says HLN, the president of Vooruit took the matter to court for summary proceedings. Without listening to the version of HLN or VTM NEWS, the court banned the broadcast of the article and the report, under penalty of having to pay fines of 1,000 euros per hour.
He took legal action, thus preventing Het Laatste Nieuws and VTM NEWS from publishing exactly the comments that the agents attributed to him. He speaks of a “possible political controversy”. Mr. Rousseau thus suggests that the official report was written under political influence to harm him.
In a joint statement, the editors-in-chief of VTM Nieuws and Het Laatste Nieuws speak of “an attack on press freedom”. They say they will use “all legal avenues” to challenge the publication ban. “It is exceptional that a party president is named in a case of racist remarks. Given the great social importance, we believe it is our journalistic duty to inform the public regarding this.”
Questioned by De Morgen, Dirk Voorhoof, professor emeritus of media law at Ghent University, judges that the intervention of Rousseau and the court is illegal. “Such a decision on a unilateral petition, without right of defense, once morest an article not yet published, is a form of preventive censorship. And censorship is prohibited by the Constitution.”
This attitude provoked outraged reactions from the political class. “Rousseau is accused of having made racist remarks. The press is interested in it. Attitude? Rousseau has the publication of the articles banned through summary proceedings. Freedom of the press they said”, tweeted the federal deputy Mathieu Bihet (MR).
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