A worrying precedent in Belgium: police arrest a journalist in the course of his work
With the targeted arrest of a journalist in the course of his work, the Belgian State crossed, on 15 February, a threshold we did not expect it to reach any time soon.
Alexandre Penasse, our colleague from Kairos, was held in his vehicle for more than three hours, then formally arrested, opposite the fire station, together with his cameraman. He was following by car the demonstrators who were playing cat and mouse with the police. The European version of the “freedom convoy” had been trying for two days to voice its opposition to the governments’ so-called “health” measures.
Alexandre Penasse was simply doing his job as a professional journalist, duly attested by an official press card recognised by the Belgian State itself. Was he arrested because he is a nuisance? Because he exposes the contradictions between official communication and science? Because he gives a voice to experts censored by the mainstream media and social networks? Because he gives a voice to victims of the undebated measures that have swept over the population for almost two years now?
BAM! cannot remain silent in the face of the exceptional seriousness of this act, fully owned by the authorities, since it sanctions an escalation of repression against any force opposing the policy laid down by the public authorities.
We would point out that freedom of the press is guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution . In a State governed by the rule of law, the government and the police have a duty to uphold the Constitution.
At a time when Belgium has just publicly slipped down the scale of democracy and the rule of law [2], this step towards a certain authoritarianism is symptomatic of a situation that has deteriorated sharply since the start of the so-called “health” crisis. Attacks on citizens’ fundamental rights are regularly denounced by courageous specialists in law, ethics and even science – the scientific foundations of the crisis management are, to say the least, debatable.
Even though our editorial line is different, we stand in full solidarity with our colleague Alexandre Penasse, editor-in-chief and founder of Kairos. BAM! and Kairos are exceptions in the Belgian, and even French-speaking, media landscape, because we never cease to denounce the failings and approximations of health policy, the incompetence of politicians and the conflicts of interest of certain experts, but also the terrible consequences it has on the population, especially children.
We therefore condemn, in the strongest terms, the arrest of a journalist in the course of his work, symptomatic of a certain authoritarian drift by a government at bay, no longer able to justify an unjust, harmful “health” policy that is destroying social cohesion. At a time when many Western countries are purely and simply abandoning “health” measures, Belgium stands out as an exception. It has become a State that mistreats its people and its children, stigmatises a minority opposed to mass vaccination, censors dissenting voices and intimidates journalists and whistleblowers.
I could not understand a single journalist in Belgium not being outraged at what has happened to one of us. We are all concerned: it is our profession, our freedom of speech that is under attack; each and every one of us is affected by this worrying precedent.
By Hughes Belin, editor-in-chief at BAM!
[1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_25_de_la_Constitution_belge
[2] https://www.lesoir.be/423275/article/2022-02-10/la-belgique-qualifiee-de-defaillante-dans-un-index-de-la-democratie
