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Belgium French-speaking Court of First Instance of Brussels,61st penal chambre (Tribunal de première instance francophone de Bruxelles,61e chambre correctionnelle) 2018 Belgium / Court of First Instance of Brussels / Judgment number 2018/6234 - Roll number 18F033246 - System number 16R83630 Religion, Race/Ethnicity Muslims, EU citizens & nationals with migrant background A female pharmacist is asked in a very aggressive tone by a client to give more information about a prescription he had received ten days earlier from one of her colleagues. During her reply, the pharmacist is interreputed by the client who says he does not want to talk to her but to someone else, because “with the thing you wear on your head, you are not a scientist”. The pharmacist wears a veil at work and has never had any problem with other customers or her colleagues. The pharmacist’s… View more
Belgium Court of first instance East-Flanders,department Ghent criminal matters (Rechtbank van eerste aanleg Oost-Vlaanderen,afdeling Gent strafzaken) 2018 Belgium / Court of First Instance of Ghent / Roll number 18G011567 - System number 18RG9098 Race/Ethnicity, Race/Ethnicity, Nationality, Religion Muslims, EU citizens & nationals with migrant background The facts of the case concern a wide range of inappropriate and racist remarks made on social media following the attacks in Istanbul (Turkey) on 1 January 2017. K.A. from Houthalen-Helchteren was killed in those attacks. The defendant, a Belgian national, repeatedly posted messages on the Internet, including on Facebook, targeting Muslims with a migrant background and replied to messages and videos posted by others from 18/09/2014 to 02/06/2017 included.The defendant denies the facts and… View more
Belgium Court of Cassation of Belgium (Hof van Cassatie van België) 2017 Belgium / Court of Cassation / S.12.0062.N Religion Muslims A muslim receptionist was dismissed by the defendant as she refused to conform to the unwritten rule in force in the company, which imposed a prohibition on carrying outward signs of a political, philosophical or religious belief. The Labour Court of Antwerp had ruled that a security firm did not commit abuse of law by dismissing a receptionist who wanted to combine a modest headscarf with her uniform. View more
Belgium European Court of Justice 2017 Belgium / CJEU - C‐157/15 / Judgment / Samira Achbita and Centrum voor gelijkheid van kansen en voor racismebestrijding v G4S Secure Solutions NV Religion Muslims The case concerns G4S' dismissal of S.A. because of her refusal to remove her Islamic headscarf. S.A., a Muslim, was employed by G4S at a time when the company had an unwritten rule that prohibited employees from wearing visible signs of their political, philosophical or religious beliefs in the workplace. Several years later G4S approved the rule. After this, Ms Achbita was dismissed because she refused to comply with the rule not to wear the Islamic headscarf at work. The Court… View more
Belgium European Court of Human Rights, ECHR 2017 Belgium / ECtHR / Application no. 34367/14 / Belkacem v. Belgium Religion Other religious groups, Muslims The case concerned the conviction of Mr Belkacem, the leader and spokesperson of the organisation “Sharia4Belgium”, which was dissolved in 2012, for incitement to discrimination, hatred and violence on account of remarks he made in YouTube videos concerning non-Muslim groups and Sharia. The Court noted that in his remarks he had called on viewers to overpower non-Muslims, teach them a lesson and fight them. The Court considered that the remarks in question had a markedly hateful content and… View more
Belgium European Court of Human Rights, ECHR 2017 Belgium / ECtHR / Application no. 4619/12 / Dakir v. Belgium Religion Muslims The case concerned a by-law adopted in June 2008 by three Belgian municipalities (Pepinster, Dison and Verviers) concerning a ban on the wearing in public places of clothing that conceals the face. In August 2008, Ms Dakir, presenting herself as a Muslim who had decided on her own initiative to wear the niqab applied to the Conseil d’État (Council of State) for the annulment of the ban. She claimed, among other things, that the provision expressly concerned the Islamic clothing worn by her and… View more
Belgium European Court of Human Rights, ECHR 2017 Belgium / ECtHR / Application no. 37798/13 / Judgement / Belcacemi and Oussar v. Belgium Religion Muslims The case concerned the ban on the wearing in public of clothing that partly or totally covers the face. Ms Belcacemi and Ms Oussar present themselves as Muslims who have decided on their own initiative to wear the niqab on account of their religious convictions. On 26 July 2011, Ms Belcacemi and Ms Oussar brought actions for the suspension and annulment of the law before the Constitutional Court. Their cases were dismissed by that court. View more
Belgium Tribunal of First Instance of Gent(Rechtbank van Eerste Aanleg te Gent), 2016 Belgium / Tribunal of First Instance of Gent Race/Ethnicity Third country nationals In 2016, the Tribunal of Gent convicted a person for incitement to hatred. After fighting with a Somalian man, the accused shouted various racist insults such as "dirty black" and "go back to your country" while the Somalian man was describing his account of the event to a policeman. The tribunal considered that the accused clearly had the intent to incite bystanders to violence and hatred towards the victim. View more
Belgium Tribunal of First Instance of Brussels (Tribunal de première instance de Bruxelles) 2016 Belgium / Tribunal of First Instance of Brussels Nationality Third country nationals In 2016, the Tribunal of Brussels convicted a person for incitement to hatred and violence based on the victim's nationality. The accused had posted public messages on Facebook containing racist insults towards the Turkish victim and her son and calling for her murder. The Tribunal considered that mere insults do not constitute incitement to hatred; however, in this case, the call for murder demonstrated there was an intent to incite violence. View more
Belgium Tribunal of First Instance of East-Flanders section Gent (Rechtbank van eerste aanleg Oost-Vlanderen afdeling Gent) 2015 Belgium / Tribunal of First Instance of East-Flanders section Gent/ GE56.L2.3657/14/sw3 Religion Muslims In 2015, the Tribunal of Gent convicted a man for harassment and discrimination because he ordered and distributed flyers, the painting of slogans on the road, and the hanging up of posters with discriminatory messages such as "STOP ISLAM", "NO JIHAD IN OUR STREET" and "STOP THE RITUAL HALAL SLAUGHTER = 100% BARBARIC". The defendant invoked his freedom of expression, but the Tribunal argued that such freedom is limited by the respect of the constitutional freedoms… View more
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