Young man from Verviers files a complaint after he was attacked by several young people at Pukkelpop: “Racist statements, anti-Walloon song and even a Hitler salute” | Inland

The problems for Nathanaël and his friend Pierre already started on Friday evening at the campsite in Kiewit. By coincidence, they placed their tent next to a group of festival-goers with a Flemish flag. “All night long we heard insults and anti-Walloon chants,” the conservatory student from Verviers testifies. “We were told that ‘no French is spoken here, only Dutch’ and that we had to leave. Worse, there was urination against our tent,” says an agitated Nathanaël. His friend was told that the two young men had better move their tent, or else the group would take care of it themselves.

On the festival site itself, the young man, who has mixed descent, had to deal with racist young people, he says. In a first incident, during the Pinkpantheress concert, he heard some young people use the ‘nigger’, after which they looked in his direction. During Pendulum’s concert, Nathanaël came face to face with youths who gave a Nazi salute while imitating Hitler’s mustache.

After returning home on Monday morning, he decided to file a complaint with the Verviers police for racism and discrimination.

A racist incident also took place at Pukkelpop in 2018. Two young women were then attacked by a group of young Flemish men who sang racist songs. Images of the facts were circulated and the perpetrators were identified. The Public Prosecution Service then ordered them to visit the Dossin barracks in Mechelen and the Holocaust museum.