The Criminal Court in the Limburg town of Tongeren has sentenced three men from Genk and Bilzen (both Limburg province) for inciting violence against the police. In 2020 the three used the Telegram messaging service to not only protest against the restrictions that were then in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, but also to call on others to attack police officers. They have been given 12-month suspended prison sentences and issued with 800-euro fines, part of which also suspended.
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Three men sentenced for inciting violence during a demonstration against lockdown measures
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The defendants were members of two groups on the Telegram messaging service. There they criticised the coronavirus restrictions. In some of the messages they posted they called on other members of the group to violently resist the police whose job it was to ensuretthat the measures were enforced.
One of the Telegram groups called on people to take to the streets en masse on 14 November 2020 to protest against the measures. In the other group, created a few hours before the demonstration, messages were published inciting violence against the police.
On 14 November 2020, at around 9pm, officers from the Carma Local Police Service received reports that around fifty people had gathered outside the Sledderlo Youth Centre in Genk (Limburg Province). When the police arrived, they were pelted with bricks and flares, including cobra firecrackers, which can cause serious physical injury or death. Calm finally returned at around midnight.
The three defendants were charged with inciting violence against the police. They were sentenced to a 12-month suspended prison sentence and 800 euro, part of which suspended. They must also pay damages to the officers from the Carma Local Police Service that had to deal with the trouble outside the youth centre on 14 November 2020.