The Belgian Minister of Justice Vincent van Quickenborne has recorded a video message from his hiding place about the serious threat from the Netherlands. The three men arrested in The Hague and the still fugitive fourth suspect had the plan to kidnap him, he says.
Foreign editors
Sep 25. 2022
On Thursday, a car with a Kalashnikov and explosives was found at Van Quickeborne’s house in Kortrijk. It now appears that there was also a bulletproof vest and tension straps in it. This means that the judiciary assumes that a plan to kidnap the minister has been foiled. According to information from Belgian media, it seems that the Dutch have fled.
“The past 48 hours have been a real rollercoaster for our family. For Anouk, for Bo, for Scott and for myself,” said Van Quickeborne in his video message, which was broadcast at the Kortrijk party where he was actually a guest. Many public appointments of the minister have been canceled for the coming days. luckily we are fine, we are safe and we are in good hands.”
‘Professional intervention’
The rollercoaster started Thursday when he got a call from the federal prosecutor. “He told me there was a plan to kidnap me.” The Belgian authorities are not making any statements about the exact course and how the action was foiled.
“My kidnapping was foiled thanks to the professional intervention of our security services, who are ready to protect us day and night,” said Van Quickenborne. “This time I was the target, but unfortunately many people in the police and justice are confronted with this.”
Threat from Dutch corner
The threat comes from the Netherlands. In addition to the car with a Dutch registration number that was found, three men aged 20, 29 and 48 were soon arrested in The Hague and Leidschendam. A fourth suspect is still being sought. Belgium has requested the surrender of the three.
It is widely assumed in Belgium that the threat comes from the drug environment. In recent months, attacks have been regularly committed and thwarted in the country, many of which involved Dutch involvement. A dozen Dutch people are now detained for incidents on Belgian soil.
Justice Minister Van Quickenborne serves as a banner for the fight against organized crime in the country. Last year he signed an extradition treaty with Dubai, a popular refuge for criminals. And Van Quickenborne spoke proudly about cracking encrypted criminal telephones, which led to the arrest of many people, including in our country.
Do you have tips about this case or do you want tipping a wrong? Then you can send us a message via WhatsApp or Signal at: +31615377185. You can also email to [email protected]. You can tip us anonymously through all these channels. We treat your data in confidence, according to us privacy statement.
Dilan Yesilgöz – Zegerius
@DilanYesilgoz
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.