Belgian news in brief, 23 May 2006

New corruption scandal in Wallonia

Socialist PS leader Elio Di Rupo is demanding tougher sanctions in the wake of a new corruption scandal among the Wallonian party. This is despite the fact the municipal department of the PS party in Charleroi requested Alderman Lucien Cariat to resign on Tuesday night. Alderman Pierre De Clercq escaped with a reprimand. Cariat was arrested last Thursday and Charleroi Court remanded him in custody on Tuesday for another month on fraud charges and abuse of social funds. The financial director of the rubbish disposal firm ICDI, Christian Blondeel, has also been remanded in custody.

Crackdown on truancy after murder

Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx is to crackdown on truants as part of a wider campaign to combat youth crime announced after the murder of Brussels teenager Joe Van Holsbeeck. The education departments of the nation’s three language communities will inform justice officials about the most persistent truants. And an extra criminologist will be appointed to youth crime departments in every judicial division across the country. The French-speaking Community has already said that checks on truancy in schools in Wallonia and Brussels will be intensified.

Cheap rail tickets for silent march

Belgian rain NMBS-SNCB will offer a special ticket price of EUR 5 for anyone who wishes to take part in the silent march in Antwerp on Friday. The silent march will start at 2pm on the Brouwersvliet. Meanwhile, concern has been raised that the extreme-right Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) will participate in the march and disturb the serenity. The party has since denied its leaders will participate in the march, organised to honour the victims of the recent racist shootings in Antwerp.

Subject: Belgian news