”My cabbage, my jewel, come on my knees to stone this ugly Zibouh full of lice”. In this message posted on the social network Twitter, Laurent Minguet, Walloon entrepreneur and member of the Royal Academy of Belgium, hijacks the little mnemonic phrase to make it a real charge against Fatima Zibouh. The latter had been appointed, a few weeks ago, co-project manager in the preparation of Brussels’ application for the status of European Capital of Culture in 2030. It will be she who, alongside Jan Goossens, will be the face of Brussels in its candidacy.
Laurent Minguet’s message, posted on February 8, quickly provoked a torrent of reactions on social networks between supporters of freedom of expression and those who see it as a clear call for violence, in this case stoning. The message earned the Walloon entrepreneur the suspension of his Twitter account. Laurent Minguet, for his part, asserts the right to humor and evoked to our colleagues from BX1 a joke in the spirit of “Charlie Hebdo” which irritates those who want to “muzzle criticism of Islamism”.
Already have a file open
But this humor is not to the taste of the Royal Academy of Belgium. “I can only categorically condemn this kind of position which stands outside the walls of our institution.”, declared in Le Soir the perpetual secretary of the academy Didier Viviers, evoking possible sanctions.
This message will in any case be brought to the file which already involves Laurent Minguet for a previous message posted in 2019 where the man affirmed that “the IQ of blacks is lower than the IQ of whites lower than that of Asians. On average ! And the causes are genetic AND environmental”. The Royal Academy had decided to take the case to court and had found the support of Unia, the center for equal opportunities in Belgium. According to its director Patrick Charlier, the comments made against Fatima Zibouh could violate the Moureau law against racism or that against discrimination. “But Unia will not go to court without the victim’s consent.”, specified Mr. Charlier in Le Soir.