Belgium: Man who posted racist death threat about Black TV host sentenced to prison time and a fine

A Belgian court has sentenced a man who posted a commentary online with a racist insult and threat about a Black television host to prison time. The 32-year-old Belgian has been given a suspended sentence of half a year.

The convicted inciter must now spend two weeks of that sentence behind bars and pay a fine of EUR 1 600, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “I had never experienced a case in court and I never suspected ahead of time what kind of impact it would have on my psyche,” commented Cécile Djunga, the Black moderator who works for the French-language RTBF station in Belgium.  

“It’s quite intense,” Djunga said of the experience. In 2018, the TV personality of Congolese heritage produced a video in which she complained about the wave of racist commentaries she has faced ever since appearing on the country’s television screens.

At the time Djunga said she wanted to combat the idea that “there is no racism in Belgium”. More insults and threats appeared online in response to her video lament. 

Police eventually began to prosecute the author of one comment, who had posted that he hoped Djunga would become the victim of assault and that it would be best if it were fatal. The Belgian prosecutor eventually charged the commenter with inciting hatred and violence against a race.