my sabbatical year
2011/12
Some countries are famous for celebrating weddings. Usually old fashioned kingdoms, but things are different in Belgium. Right-wing politicians and their public probably threw a party after preventing a man and a women to marry.
Giving the growing popularity of demonishing public enemies, his rank as nr 1 is actually uncertain, but certainly he’ s close: Fouad Belkacem, an Antwerp car mechanic is the spokesman of Shariah4Belgium, a radical muslim groupuscule.
Belkacem was arrested on June 7th this year for incitement to hate. Pending the instruction of his case, the Council Chamber of the Antwerp Court freed him, but this judgement was reversed in appeal on August 2nd. Otherwise, he could have been retained in prison for short but final sentences (although generally not put into practice, according to instructions of de Ministry of Justice).
While remaining in custody, Belkacem announced his intention to marry his pregnant girlfriend. Apparently everything was arranged to do so in prison last Friday till the Antwerp City Administrator failed to show up.
Art. 75 of the Belgian Civil Code indeed provides a marriage ceremony taking place at City Hall. Exceptions are commonly made for security reasons in prison, but the Antwerp City Administration pointed out this is only the case for convicted criminals, not for people in custody pending their trial.
That brings me to another Belgian public enemy: Michèle Martin, the ex-wife of Dutroux. Arrested in 1996 for her involvement in the abduction and death of 6 children, she was sentenced in .... 2004 to a 30 years imprisonment. A public outcry answered the decision of the newly (2007) installed Court for the Execution of Sentences that ordered her conditional early leave of prison because of good conduct, and a rehabilitation program. The Belgian Supreme Court reviews that decision next Tuesday.
Given the narrowminded logic of the Antwerp City Administration, Michèle Martin could not marry in the unreasonly long period 1996 – 2004 pending her trial, but she could do so since her conviction in 2004.
On the other hand, Michèle Martin could – and did – divorce in 2003 (= during custody) from her criminal husband who later was given a life sentence.
To resume the oddity of both cases: convicted criminals can marry in prison, but citizens still enjoying the presumption of innocence can not. And incitement to hatred is an offence, but preventing lovers to marry is not. Anyway not yet: Belgian law tends to shift with every new newspaper headline, so legal certainties are relative and short-living.
Meanwhile, In the prison in Gent, 5 marriages took place in 2012 till now, and a 6th is scheduled for September 14th.
The Bruges prison counted only 1 marriage yet in 2012, but almost one every month (11) in 2011: no difference is made by the Bruges City Administration between inmates under provisional custody or after conviction.
In a forensic context, it might be interesting to note that the (conditional) early release fails predictidly less with prisoners living in their family than alone (resp. 29% & 43 %, or prisoners having kids and not (resp. 28% & 43%). Marriage on itself seems a neutral element: prisoners who are married fail as often as who are not (resp. 41,6% & 41,9 %) but those last statistics do not reveal the number of ex-prisoners living de facto with a partner. It is however clear that the prognosis is far better within the social framework of a family (statistics by J. Goethals & M. Bouverne-De Bie, ‘Voorwaardelijke invrijheidstelling: wetgeving, predictie en begeleiding’, Gent, Academia Press, 2000, 279, 151).
A legal detail: if the custody for the current instruction would be lifted, Belkacem might - very exceptionnally (!) - be held in prison for some already pronounced short sentences, but then the logic of refusal of the City Administration, would clearly fail. So, what really makes the difference ?
And not a legal detail: It is a basic human right “to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right.” (art 12 ECHR). The European Court of Human Rights dismissed the restricitve British opinion in this matter for prisoners (ECRM nr 711/75 Hamer vs United Kingdom 13 december 1979, cited by D. Van Grunderbeeck in E. Brems, e.a. ‘Vrijheden en vrijheidsbeneming, Mensenrechten van gedetineerden,’, Antwerp - Oxford, Intersentia, 2005, 353, 216 nr 39).
But there is still more. Art 21 of the Belgian Consitution stipulates the civil marriage ceremony must precede any religious one. Art. 267 of the Belgian Penal Code punishes infringement with fines, and emprisonment of the clergyman involved. The historical roots of this particularity go back to the Concordat of Napoleon with Pope Pius VII in 1801, which explains this legislation is limited to France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
This chronological order of ceremonies means that by blocking civil marriage, the religious marriage remains unattainable. This situation is criticable on the basis of art. 9.1 ECRM: everyone has the right to manifest his relegion in worship.
Finally the refusal shows an odd consequence of the Belgian separation of church and state: there would be no problem for an Irish catholic prisoner being married behind bars by a priest as in Ireland (and in Spain, Portugal or Poland) the ceremony of religious marriage has legal value. Also in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greece and the United Kingdom, citizens have a free choice betwee civil and religious mariage, both legally binding.
Remarkebly enough, Belgium might one day join those countries in accepting this civil role for clergy: in 2001 former Prime Minister Leterme and actual Secretary of State Verherstraeten proposed the abolition of art. 21 of the Constitution, as they considered it contrary to the freedom of religion. The proposition was introduced again by senators Beke, Vandendriessche & Van Parys in 2009.
As Islam is one of the 6 recognised religions in Belgium, Mr. Belkacem could then in prison be married by his Imam.
It far from probable the Antwerp OpenVLD politician who opposed the marriage of Mr. Belkacem had that pioneering consequence in mind.
Of course, there is another story hiding behind the corner of the Belkacem case. Mrs Turtelboom, the Belgian minister of Justice (also personally facing difficult local elections in Antwerp) is since months trying to finds ways to revoke the Belgian nationality of Belkacem. The immediate consequence would then be his possible extradition to Morocco in connection to drug trade accusations: indeed, as a general rule, no country extradites its own citizens.
But once Belkacem would be married to his Belgian fiancée, that – already very shaky - procedure to revoke his Belgian nationality would be fatally crippled.
In the mean time 2.000 (according to Reuters) or 5.000 (according to the police) angry Belgians marched on August 19th through Brussels demanding better protection for children against abuse. One yet unborn child was certainly never considered: Fouad Belkacem junior.
Before birth, the kid already received its first lesson of hate. But not by the father to be.
Follow me on Twitter@NolfJan View my earlier comments and columns in the press (link here).
You Tubes of the Day:
‘Beslissing strafuitvoeringsrechtbank is juridisch correct’
(interview J. Nolf VTM Het Nieuws 2012 07 31)
‘Verbijstering en onbegrip na vrijlating ex Dutroux’ (RTL nl)
Reyers Laat 10 05 2011 - Ouders Marchal, Hugo Camps
Le substitut du Procureur de la République, Oswald Baudot
Photo of the day:
Lyon: window shopping for would-be-married ?
Press of the day:
2012 08 22 ‘Belkacem mag niet trouwen in de gevangenis’ (Knack)
2012 08 20 ‘Bereidde niemand die ouders voor op vrijlating ?’ (DM)
2012 08 20 ‘Woede is een slechte raadgever’ (Opinie J. Nolf in DM)
2012 08 20 ‘Meer inspraak voor slachtoffers houdt grote risico’s in’ (DS)
2012 08 20 Le système:”un drame une loi” (Libération)
2012 08 17 ‘Justice enfin à Christiane Taubira !’ (Le Monde)
2012 08 19 ‘2000 Belgians protest release of Michèle Martin’ (Reuters)
2012 08 18 ‘Turtelboom pleit voor beroep tegen SURB’ (De Morgen)
2012 08 17 De voorstellen van Paul Marchal voor de SURB: zijn opinie
2012 08 17 ‘Que l’on rende enfin justice à Christine Taubira !’ (Le Monde)
2012 08 15 ‘Belgisk ilska över frigivning’ (interview J. Nolf
2012 08 15 ‘Open Brief aan Paul Marchal’ (M’n opinie in VRTDeRedactie)
2012 08 02 ‘Journalisten te emotioneel over vrijlating
M. Martin (Prof. Leo Neels in Knack)
2012 08 04 ‘Amateurisme tekent de vrijlating van Martin’ (Peter Adriaenssens, Opinie in DM)
2012 08 02 ‘Niet dezelfde vrouw ?’ (gerechtspsychiater Johan Baeke in Opinie DS)
2012 08 01 ‘Moeder van Eefje: rechtstaat heeft regels’ (GvA)
2012 07 31 ‘Pourquoi il fallait un jour libérer M. Martin’ (Le Vif/L’Express)
2012 07 31 ‘Sabine Dardenne:‘Men wist dat ze ging vrijkomen’ (Knack)
2012 07 31 ‘Vrijlating M. Martin: revolte of rechtstaat ?’
2012 07 30 ‘Michèle Martin: moet haar naam gewist worden ?’
2012 07 28 ‘De ‘kruistocht’ waarmee Paul Marchal dreigt,
neigt naar stalking’ (Opinie J. Nolf in DM)
2012 07 27 ‘Waar Michèle Marin zich ook denkt te verstoppen,
overal zal ze mij tegenkomen’ (DM)
2012 07 26 ‘Kan Michèle Martin vervroegd vrijkomen ?
(Analyse Philip Heymans op VRT De Redactie)
2012 07 25 ‘Crimineel Holleeder wordt columnist’ (VRT)
2012 07 25 ‘Iedereen gelijk voor de wet ?’ (Opinie J. Nolf op VRT De Redactie)
2012 07 25 ‘We hebben niet genoeg geduld met jonge mensen’ (Prof. Lode Walgrave in Knack)
2012 07 25 ‘Why we should defend WikiLeaks’ Mathew Ingram GIGACOM & Bill Keller NYT)
2012 07 25 ‘Voormalige Spaanse toprechter Garzon verdedigt Assange’ (DS)
2012 07 24 ‘Gerecht laat beursmisdrijven ongemoeid’ (DS)
2012 07 22 ‘Sur la santé, la justice a échoué” (Le Monde)
2012 07 12 ‘Gelukkig is er nog de fiscus, uw vriend (Steven Samyn in DM)
2012 06 25 ‘De jeugdcriminaliteit neemt niet toe’ (Prof. Lode Walgrave in De Juristenkrant)
2009 12 21 Toespraak vrederechter F. Evers bij zijn toekenning Prijs Mensenrechten Liga
Quote of the day:
“Je kunt de vijand niet als mens zien, want dan begin je over alles na te denken. Je gaat naar de oorlog om de vijand uit te schakelen”
Lucas, 69 jaar, ex-kolonel in Tanzania, en ondertussen jurist en relatiebemiddelaar in De Morgen, Zeno van 04 08 2012.
“De quoi se plaint-on en effet ? Des récidives. Quelle en est la cause ? L’abandon où se trouvent les condamnés libérés”
Jules Joseph d’Anethan, Ministre de la Justice anno 1846.
(cité dans Donald Weber, ‘Homo Criminalis, Belgische parlementsleden over misdaad en strafrecht 1830 - 1940’ (Brussel, VUBPress 1996, 190, 119)
“Ik voelde me altijd geruggensteund door de uitspraak van B. Russell dat de minderheid van vandaag de meerderheid van morgen kan zijn.”
Vrederechter Freddy Evers, toespraak bij aanvaarding Prijs voor Mensenrechten, Liga 2009
Poem of the day:
“ Neutralité cet instant
comme un centre égalisant un peu
jusqu’à rien ce que je connaissais encore
et ce que je connaissais déja
Non le noeud mais le nu
entre les atteintes de l’avenir
et les costumes du passé
seulement instant cette absence
...
Afzijdigheid dit ogenblik
als een middelpunt dat
wat ik nog kende
en wat ik reeds ken
een beetje in evenwicht brengt
Niet het kluwen maar het naakte
tussen de inbreuken van de toekomst
en de vermommingen van het verleden
dit ogenblik enkel afwezigheid”
Christian Dotremont, ‘Chronique’ (uit ‘Ceci n’est pas une poésie’, Een Belgisch-Franstalige Anthologie belge francophone’ van Barnard, Dirkx & Lambersy (Atlas 2005)
from belgium with love ?
22 augustus 2012
Convicted criminals can marry in prison, but citizens still enjoying the presumption of innocence can not. And incitement to hatred is an offence, but preventing lovers to marry is not.
