Eighteen-year-old from Wavre prosecuted for threatening message to Minister Verlinden on Telegram
An 18-year-old from Wavre appeared in Nivelles court for sending "Death to you" to Justice Minister Verlinden via Telegram. The court granted a suspension of sentence.
"Death to you": a three-word message before Nivelles court
An 18-year-old man from Wavre appeared on 6 May before the Nivelles criminal court, prosecuted for "threatening an attack" after sending a brief message to Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden via Telegram messaging. DHnet reports that the text in question contained only three words and eight letters: "Death to you."
"I sincerely regret it," declared the defendant, referred to by the assumed first name Arthur. "I was angry. I had nothing against Annelies Verlinden in particular. I could have addressed anyone else and written to them: 'Go fuck yourself'." He still has no clear explanation for the reasons that led him to target the minister specifically.
The Nivelles public prosecutor's office, informed of the sending of the message, decided to pursue charges. Locating the defendant was not immediate: he had lost his mobile phone, which complicated the work of investigators before they could question him. Arthur is currently preparing entrance examinations for medical school.
The public prosecutor requested a sentence of 50 hours of community service, specifying himself that "the threat was not real". His lawyer, Me Pierre Deutsch, posed the question directly to the court: "Seriously, was there in this Telegram, as the law provides, a threat that must inspire an impression of terror, a serious fear? Who could believe it? Social networks are full of a heap of stupidities. And here, for three words and eight letters, there is legal prosecution. Because it is troubling?"
The defence had pleaded for a simple suspension of sentence. The court followed this request, granting the measure to the future medical candidate.
Source: DHnet