To “honor” the VIP (Very Irritating Police) a May One Blog (MOB ;-) with lots of 3-letter words. I’m a (Very) Lucky One (VLO). Precisely on this bench (see photo), I use to hang around, for only ... half a minute or so, stretching at ‘minute 25’ of my Jogging Around Bruges (JAB :-/), till my heartbeat rate gets under 120 again. But the photo shows this is clearly a Very Dangerous Spot (VDS).  Already young lads, hanging around near our East Coast beaches will be “stalked” by the ‘Black Volvo Team’ (BVT) of the police  (see the blog “‘Hangjongeren of Gangjongeren ?’ of April 24).

So “Hanging Around Youngsters” (HAY) should be informed now about the deadly risk on the ramparts of Bruges ;-) The thunderstorm of Friday night brought this rotten branch down, luckily at a moment even no Benidorm Bastard (BB - click here) was enjoying a moment of rest on the bench beneath.  Hanging around can be deadly. I guess no one will dare to mention “Immanent Justice” (I.J.) here:-)

(Almost) serious now. I keep wondering about the legal definition of “hangjongeren” (HAY) . Yes, hay you ! Let’s give it another try: “young lads, just hanging around and annoying a neighbourhood they do not even belong to” . The essential and aggravating circomstance: “you do not belong here !”. The new version of SOS (Save Our Souls): Save Our Coast (SOC).

But so many tourists do not “belong” here neither. Where, finally, do you “belong” to in a “free “society ? You decide that for yourself ? If some one decides that for you, it can pretty fast become something lik mental - if not physical - expulsion. Expulsion is not just something that happens at frontiers. Exclusion is the inland version of it.

Another guess: “They don’t work”. That’s an easy one. Many employer don’t accept them at legal conditions. And retired people don’ t work neither (and not all did, in the past, or not very long).

My very first ‘pro deo client’, Al.... A. (my case Nr 9 as a lawyer) worked als a “plongeur”, but stole some money from his Knokke le Zoute employer, just to survive on his hunger salary. He was partly acquitted, but expulsed from Belgium, and Anne baked a cake for him: his food on the way back “home”, something like our personal “Wietergutmachung” for him.

Years later, justice was rendered, and I won his case for years of unpaid salary. A fortune, he shared with his big family. Not all of us would do ?

Another try: “This is no style for our city. They wear their shorts and jeans too low”. But the legendary Flemish hero Tijl Uilenspiegel, defying the Spanish Inquisition made a bigger scandal: entering the town of “Meyborg” on a monkey, he lowered his pants, enraging passing pelgrims. In Delcambre (USA) you get 6 months prison & €500 fined for just a hiphop low pant (clik here).  Why would we go for less ;-))). Tijl Uilenspiegel fined in Flanders of 2011 !

A last thought about HAY for today. Until recently, even when France was still supposed to applicate the Schengen Agreement, traffic at ‘Risquons Tout’ (Belgian frontier near Menen) was systematically stopped, and  the selection was evident. You are black or ‘beur’, and drive a car too expensive or too worn out (you’re damned if you do it and you’re damned if you don’t). Loud music, or an amused stare to make it worse. I was never stopped. I’m a VLO... (not - in Dutch - “de luis in de pels”).

However, in the mid 90ies, arriving at the Lille train station with a beard, a back pack and a sun tan, I  saw and sensed the stare of 2 policemen (CRS) about 100 m in front of me. “Suspect”. They accelerated slightly, but clearly: I was the target.

Precisely then, my parents arrived sideways, their arms opening towards me. I glanced at the policemen: they hesitated, and abruptly, changed direction. Towards another “target”. I still remermber what my mother said, laughing loud: “we saved you”. Action ‘Save A Judge’ (SAJ) !

I do not judge people on their looks, but ok, I have another, great job (even if I have to work on May One, Labour Day).

Anyway, this might be the solution: HAY, take mam & dad with you to the Belgian West Coast (BWC ;-) !

Wat u vast niet gemist hebt - Ce que vous n’avez certainement pas râté - You didn’t miss this one did you ???

01 05 2011 “Chronique Chadienne (6)” de Patrice de Charette dans ‘Paroles de juges’

28 04 2011 “Geef een openluchtzwembad aan jongeren in Brussel (bis)” (Pascal Smet in De Morgen, De Gedachte)

26 04 2011 “Italie en Frankrijk willen Verdrag van Schengen bijschaven” (De Morgen)

25 04 2011 “Wikileaks: à Guantanamo, des adolescents victimes de machinations” (Le Monde)

20 04 2011 “Les mineurs délinquents menacent-ils la société française ?” (Blog Le Monde’ ‘Vous avez dit sécurité ? ‘ du sociologue Laurent Muccielli)

19 04 2011 “Une Very Irritating Police braquée sur les francophones à la Côte cet été” (Le Vif)

23 05 2008 “Roterdam slaat door in repressie” (Ombudsman Migiel van Kinderen in NRC Handelsblad)

21 07 2006 “Hinderlijk volgen, mag dat wel ?” (SP Rotterdam)

A quote a day, keeps the doctor away ;-)

“On sait bien qu’il ne faut pas entrer dans leur jeu, mais il y a des choses qui ne se font pas, c’est une question de fierté”

Banlieusard “djeun” au sujet des “flics” dans ‘Les dossiers du Canard Enchaîné’, ‘Le mégalopolicier. Le grand fiasco de la police aux mains de Sarko’

Photo of the day:

Stormy accident on the ramparts of Bruges. No HAY or BB hurt on the bench ;-)))

Poem of the day:

Doc Gynéco Rap: “ma mère est née là-bas, mon père est né la-bas, moi je suis né ici dans la misère et les cris (...) Ma vie n’est pas simple, elle n’est pas funky, moi je suis né ici, et mon enfant aussi” (You Tube)

You Tube of the day:

Tijl Uilenspiegel, illustrated by Peter van Hunten.

Jogging around Bruges:

Automn

Winter

Spring

Visits of Courtrooms:

Bruges, Huyse Die Caese (ancient courthouse of the Juges d’Instruction)

Lyon, Security in old & new courts

My favourite bridges of 2010: bridges as the symbol of Justice

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