This is the story of an old guy…
This is an imaginary judgment based on facts that ought to open a Pandora’s box. These chapters of Belgian history deserve a spotlight that will hurt. Badly. The lanced abscess will not be pretty, but this nagging silence is starting to rumble… It is time the world knew that before Epstein, other monsters already existed in Belgium.
Any resemblance to persons living or dead would not be entirely coincidental.
Just after his death… A warm morning in May 2026
…He rises to heaven and appears before Saint Peter, who must decide: heaven or hell. BAM slipped a microphone in to record the case.
Saint Peter: “ I say, Mr Stevie. We have a real problem with your file!!!”
Stevie: “ Come now. Read the papers. Every article is glowing. The last statesman. A great figure of old-school politics. I gave everything for my country… I devoted my life to it”
Saint Peter: “The papers. For years now I have been growing wary of their partiality, to tell the truth. At 28, you sign the death warrant of an honest citizen in Africa. Bilderberg: you are a very active member. The World Economic Forum. Davos: you were a big shot there. In business. Sabena: bingo, bankruptcy. Générale de Banque: rout. BNP Paribas: crash…”
Stevie: “Come now. You only see the dark side of my life…”
Saint Peter: “ Hard to do otherwise. You were, after all, chief of staff to the famous VDB. How shall I put it? He will go down in Belgian history as a great blackmailer. He was the conductor, but you held the score, unless I am mistaken… ”
Stevie: “Come now. I can’t even read music….”
Saint Peter: “My dear Count, I think humour has no place here. It is time to settle your accounts, my friend. My only proof: the statesman you claim to be was buried like a wretched commoner, in the strictest privacy. One of your daughters was even barred from attending. How do you explain that? Let me remind you that you left your wife, without divorcing her, to carry on a love affair with complete impunity with the daughter of a statesman you served. Hardly a good example for a man who preaches transparency and setting an example”
Stevie: “That is the ingratitude of a people I served so very much. Let me remind you that I was also heavily involved in Europe, in Sporting Anderlecht… I was decorated many, many times. Frankly, I find it indecent to have to justify myself in this charade. Open the gates of heaven for me forthwith”
Saint Peter: “Not so fast, my good friend. There is one nail left. What am I saying: the nails in your coffin. Your name appears in a few ultra-sensitive and inglorious files from your life that could open the gates of hell for you”.
Stevie: “What are you thinking of?”
Saint Peter: “What if I mention the Château des Amerois? The film Les Survivantes? Pierre Barnerias? Anneke, Sophie… What do these names mean to you?”
Stevie (ashen): “Honestly, I really don’t see what you are referring to?”
Saint Peter: “Of courrrrse. I suggest a preventive stay in hell. That should bring back a few memories. You were the devil to respectable human beings whose lives were irreparably ruined”.
Stevie (furious) - “Sir. No. I deny all of it…”
Saint Peter - “Guards!!! Take him away. If your memory returns and you agree to confess everything, to ask for forgiveness, I may reconsider. Farewell, or see you soon!”
Pietje Schramouille
The opinions expressed in this op-ed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of BAM!
Illustration by BAM!
