Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-18-Speech-2-188"
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"en.20081118.26.2-188"2
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".
In view of this report and the associated legal proceedings by the Belgian authorities, it must be stated unequivocally that the whole process – in particular the court proceedings – represents a purely politically motivated persecution of the former leader of the Vlaams Belang party, Frank Vanhecke. Mr Vanhecke received this writ two days after relinquishing the leadership of the party.
It is also clear that, with only six months to go to the European elections, the aim is to blacken the name of the Vlaams Belang candidate for political motives. According to the Belgian Constitution, it would also have been legally necessary to prosecute the author of the article, as his identity is known, rather than the publisher. I therefore vehemently stress that a politically motivated criminal prosecution should not be seen as providing cause to revoke the parliamentary immunity of Frank Vanhecke and that this witch-hunt by the Belgian justice authorities should be condemned in the strongest terms. A similar situation arose in 2003, when criminal proceedings were initiated against Daniel Cohn-Bendit from the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, although this was rejected by the committee at the time because there were suspicions of political motives. The situation is the same in this case, if not even more clear, which is why I am obliged to vote against the motion."@en1
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