29 members of the Antwerp local police and the security corps of the Federal Public Justice Service are standing trial for bullying colleagues. Around half of them also face charges of racism at the correctional court of Antwerp.
The defendants were part of the former GEOV service (courts and transfers), a team responsible for guarding and transporting arrested and detained people. A private WhatsApp group was set up in August 2014 to make communication easier, but the group was also used to share racist comments as well as to bully colleagues.
Five team members were so shocked by what was shared in the group that they wrote a letter to their superiors in September 2016. An investigation was subsequently launched by the Antwerp police's internal monitoring department.
When the incident was picked up by the media in March 2017, a further investigation took place, which scaled up to a judicial enquiry following a complaint by the Human Rights League. The Comité P also looked into the case. The criminal file was built around the 280 pages of WhatsApp conversations and the statements of the targeted victims.
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"Those conversations were very bad, that's the least we can say. The bullying and racism also happened outside the WhatsApp group in the actual workplace," the prosecutor said.
He took into account the scale of the bullying and who was guilty of racism. The time since the offences was also a factor in deciding the sentence.
It is thought that there are two primary instigators who stand to receive the steepest punishment: 12 months in prison (half of suspended) and €600 fines. The other defendants face prison sentences ranging from six to 12 months with deferment and €600 fines, some of which were suspended.
