A Belgium court convicts a prominent far-right activist to 1 year in jail for hateful, racist speech

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — A court in Belgium has convicted prominent far-right activist Dries Van Langenhove to a year in prison on Tuesday for what the judge called “racist, hateful, Nazi and negationist speech” in a major ruling on how the nation deals with extremism. Five members of the extremist group that Van Langenhove led received suspended sentences, including two who work for the far-right Flemish Interest party, which is slated to make big gains in June elections. The six were accused of using a chat group to exchange racist, antisemitic and other extremist comments. Ghent University and a human rights group were among the civil parties who sought and received damages. Van Langenhove will appeal the ruling, which automatically suspends his imprisonment.