Blok on the block

4 November 2004

BRUSSELS – Belgium’s extreme right Flemish party, the Vlaams Blok, could soon change its name in order to get round a court ban, it was reported on Thursday.

La Libre Belgique reported that the Blok was planning to re-name itself Vlaams Belang if a Belgian appeal court upholds a legal ruling made earlier this year, which found the extremist Flemish party broke the country’s anti-racism laws.

In a landmark case in April, a Ghent court found the Vlaams Blok guilty of publishing overtly racist propaganda to stir up “hatred against foreigners, with the principal targets being north Africans and Turks.”

The court said doing that flouted the 1981 Belgian law that outlaws racial discrimination.

The judgement dealt a huge financial blow to the party.

The court fined three associations linked to the Blok EUR 12,400 each.

The party is also set to lose EUR 4 million a year in state funding if the judgement is upheld.

Subject: Belgian news