The Executive of the Muslims of Belgium (EMB) is filing a complaint against the Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, before international organizations for the defense of human rights, for persistent violation of the Belgian Constitution, announced the EMB on Thursday evening. On Wednesday, the minister reacted to a judgment condemning the Belgian state for pushing the former EMB president out, saying he was appealing the decision and would continue to tackle the “shenanigans“.
“Even after the Minister of Justice was condemned by the Brussels Court of First Instance for a serious violation of freedom of religion and freedom of association, the Minister persists in openly insulting and humiliating the representative body of islam in belgium“, said the EMB. “Immediately after sentencing, Mr. Van Quickenborne announced that he wanted “to tackle more shenanigans and blunders”thus transgressing once again not only decency but also fundamental constitutional rules“, continued the EMB.
In a judgment of September 1, the Brussels Court of First Instance established that the Belgian State, through its Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne, illegally interfered in the activities of a religious authority, by forcing the former president of the EMB, Salah Echallaoui, to resign. Vincent Van Quickenborne had publicly called, at the beginning of December 2020, for a renewal of all the organs of the Executive of the Muslims of Belgium, relying on an opinion from State Security which pointed to interference by Morocco within the Great Brussels Mosque.