Bart Debie, the former police commissioner, who was given a three-year prison sentence on Thursday for excessive police brutality and other activities, can count on the “full support” of Vlaams Belang, his political party.

“If we let him down, then we let all police-officers down who aim for a hard approach to criminality”, said Vlaams Belang front-man Filip Dewinter.

Dewinter confirmed that a hard approach did not always imply only using orthodox methods, stating that unorthodox methods are sometimes necessary when dealing with unscrupulous types.

“I would prefer more the ‘Robocop’ type à la Bart Debie to the weakly gendarmes” was his opinion.

Debie was not convicted of racism, a fact which Dewinter sees as important for his future political career.

[Copyright Expatica News 2007]

Subject: Belgian news