Prosecutors want to bring 30 Antwerp police officers and members of the Security Corps to justice for racism and bullying that took place in a WhatsApp group discovered nearly four years ago.
Copies of the private conversations in which police and members of the Security Corps - the team responsible for bringing prisoners to court - were bullying colleagues and making racist remarks about Muslims were obtained by MP Wouter Van Besien (Groen), according to VRT.
In one example, someone replied to a report about police accidentally cremating the body of a Muslim with a remark that “They should have done more! ‘Cremation’ coming soon to the service list.”
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Today is the first day that the case is being considered in court. It isn’t yet clear when a verdict would be issued.
In a similar incident towards the end of last year, Belgium’s federal police opened a disciplinary investigation regarding their officers making racist comments in a private Facebook group.
Helen Lyons
The Brussels Times
