Although Jeff Hoeyberghs was sentenced by the criminal court of Ghent to a prison sentence for sexism and discrimination, the appeals court today gave the plastic surgeon a much lighter sentence. Hoeyberghs must pay a fine of 1,000 euros. If he doesn’t, he will go to jail for a month. Nevertheless, Hoeyberghs is not happy with the reduction of his sentence. “How can you be satisfied with any punishment if you have done nothing wrong,” he responds to HLN LIVE. The plastic surgeon says he is waiting for “apologies”.
Hoeyberghs was convicted by the criminal court for a number of sexist statements he made in 2019 during a lecture for the Flemish student association Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond (KVHV) of Ghent University. The plastic surgeon then compared women to dogs and called children of single mothers “scum”. “Women want the privileges of male protection and money. But they don’t want to open their legs anymore,” it said, among other things.
LOOK. In 2019, Jeff Hoeyberghs raised eyebrows with his sexist statements
The court initially imposed a 10-month prison sentence on Hoeyberghs, half of which was suspended, and an effective fine of 8,000 euros. However, the appeals court today ruled that the plastic surgeon will be fined 1,000 euros. In addition, Hoeyberghs must pay a symbolic compensation of 1 euro to the Institute for equality between men and women.
Apologies
Despite his sentence reduction, Hoeyberghs is anything but satisfied. The surgeon says he is waiting for an apology from the Interfederal Equal Opportunities Center Unia, which received 152 reports of discrimination due to “racial criteria, physical characteristics or health condition” shortly after the rulings in 2019. Hoeyberghs wants Unia to apologize “for stealing his footage, for taking his statements out of context and for the distasteful misuse of government money,” he says at HLN LIVE.
Rik Van de Walle, the rector of Ghent University, must also apologize, according to Hoeyberghs. In addition, the surgeon is waiting for an apology from “the first judge, who sentenced me to ten months in prison on the basis of no legal violation”.
Hoeyberghs also maintains that he has done nothing wrong. “I am not responsible for the court rulings and the criminal acts that led to them,” he concludes.
Read also:
Plastic surgeon Jeff Hoeyberghs appeals for almost everything free: barely three statements about women on lecture are punishable
Professor of discrimination law on the Hoeyberghs case: “Criminal law is not the right way to deal with this” (+)
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