Two-year jail sentence for antisemitic death threats against Brussels legislator

A Belgian court sentenced a person to two years in prison and an 800 Euro fine for posting antisemitic death threats against a Brussels regional legislator.

In January 2018, Viviane Teitelbaum, a member of the Brussels regional parliament, discovered extremely violent threats which referred to the Jewish Museum of Belgium, the Nazification of Israel, conspiracy theories, the Middle East conflict and the Antwerp diamond industry on her facebook page.

Following the incident, Viviane Teitelbaum lodged a complaint with the police concerning death threats with an antisemitic motive.

At the trial, the prosecutor requested for antisemitic motive to be recognised as an aggravating circumstance. However, the judge ruled that this had not been the case.

Commenting on the verdict, Teitelbaum stated: “Let us hope that in the future antisemitism will be punished as such by our judicial system “.

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