Former Flemish parliamentarian Dries Van Langenhove was given a one-year prison sentence on Tuesday for racism. The court in Ghent has this announced on Tuesday. Van Langenhove (30) is the founder and former leader of the far-right youth movement Schild en Vrienden and served in the Belgian parliament on behalf of Vlaams Belang. According to the court, Van Langenhove has “a particularly dangerous attitude”. Van Langenhove was a parliamentarian from 2019 to 2023.
In Schild en Vrienden chat groups, all kinds of racist, anti-Semitic or ultra-right and violent images were shared and statements were made. Journalists discovered this the Flemish broadcaster VRT in 2018. Another member of the youth movement was sentenced to eight months in prison and two more were given a six-month sentence. The case is widely reported in the Belgian media; several news sites have opened a live blog about the ruling.
“He has drawn the other defendants into his racist, hateful, Nazi discourse with which he pits people against each other,” the court said about Van Langenhove. “He showed a far-reaching lack of standards and disdain for fundamental values and rights. He creates a hostile atmosphere in society. He contributes to contradiction, discord and conflict and thus promotes physical and psychological violence.”
Van Langenhove was also sentenced to a ten-month suspended prison sentence for violating the weapons law (he sold pepper spray) and a fine of 24,000 euros.