In Belgium, a former deputy who laughed at Jews in concentration camps was arrested

Dries Van Langenhove, a far-right former member of the Belgian parliament, was jailed for a year for "inciting hatred and racism" against Jews. He was found guilty of posting videos and photos of the Nazi symbol (swastika) and mocking Jews in concentration camps to a youth movement message group he founded.

Dries Van Langenhove, a former far-right member of the Belgian parliament, was sentenced to 1 year in prison for "inciting hatred and racism" as part of the trial for denying the Holocaust, Anadolu reports.

According to Belgian media reports, Van Langenhove was prosecuted for making racist and anti-Semitic comments to Schild & Vrienden ("Shield and Friends"), a far-right youth group he founded in 2018.

The court found Van Langenhoven to have "incited hatred and racism" as the founder of the Schild & Vrienden movement, and sentenced the former deputy to 1 year in prison, a fine of 16,000 euros and a 10-year ban from participating in elections.

Van Langenhove was also given a 10-month suspended sentence for selling pepper spray.

In court, a defense lawyer described the youth movement's message group as "harmless jokes," but the judge said it was about "Holocaust denial and condemnation."

Emphasizing that the former deputy is the founder of the youth movement, the judge noted that he "behaved like criminals and contributed to the incitement of hatred and violence." He also accused her of "falling in love with the ideas of Nazism."

The politician's lawyer announced that they will appeal the sentence: "We will file an appeal immediately. "The only good thing about this case is that the judge is retiring soon."

What happened ?

In February 2023, the Ghent public prosecutor's office announced the prosecution of Van Langenhove, formerly an independent member of the federal parliament elected on the list of the far-right party Vlaams Belang.

Van Langenhove was accused in 2018 of making racist and anti-Semitic comments in a group message for the Schild & Vrienden youth movement he founded.

In 2018, Belgian public broadcaster VRT reported that members of the group posted videos and photos mocking Jews and swastikas in concentration camps.

The prosecutors noted that the former deputy was the leader of the group and that he created an environment where the members of the group could spread their messages and did not prevent them from doing so.

The former MP was arrested in 2018 as a "suspect" a year after reports of anti-Semitism surfaced and was released on the condition that he visit the Kazerne-Dossen Holocaust Memorial Center in Belgium, which was used as a concentration camp during World War II.

He resigned from the parliament on February 4, 2023.