The head of the Inter-Federal Equal Opportunities Centre Unia Els Keytsman has told VRT News that Unia has opened an investigation into the incident involving the Flemish socialist leader Conner Rousseau in Sint-Niklaas (East Flanders) last month. Ms Keytsman told VRT Radio 1’s morning news and current affairs programme ‘De ochtend’ that “Based on what we have read and heard, he called for discrimination and the use of violence”.
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Inter-Federal Equal Opportunities Centre opens investigation into Flemish socialist leader’s comments
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On Thursday Conner Rousseau held a press conference where he apologised for his behaviour during the incident that took place early last month at a bar in his home town of Sint-Niklaas. Mr Rousseau said that he could not remember whether he had referred to “brown people” during the incident. However, when asked by journalists if he had told police officers that they should use their truncheons to gain respect from members of the Roma community in Sint-Niklaas he conceded that this was more or less what he had said. Mr Rousseau claims that the comments were made in “a drunken haze”
Els Keytsman told the VRT that "If this is all true, Mr Rousseau has incited discrimination and violence as he called on two police officers to use their truncheons. If the comments have been quoted correctly then this is, to our mind, racism”. Unia has opened an incvestigation file and will look into what further steps can be taken.
"For a start we will gather information and find out what exactly happened. We will get in touch will the contact person at the local police service. However, other things are also possible, we are ruling nothing out”.
Unia says that the whole incident is "very problematic" and it strongly condems Mr Rousseau’s comments. Els Keytsman told VRT News that "This is not ok, certainly not for someone that is well-known and is listerned to by so many people, whatever the mitigating circumstances might be”.
But would Unia open a case file is an ordinary citizen had made comments like these? "The chance that we would is much slimmer. However, we always condemn comments like these as a matter of course, whoever makes them”.