Dries Van Langenhove is a nationalist activist in Flanders. Tomorrow, he may go to prison. Van Langenhove founded the Schild & Vrienden youth organization, the largest Flanders, to train activists to fight for Western values. In response, the Belgian government indicted him, fined him thousands of euros, and sentenced him to jail.
If Americans knew the true state of authoritarianism in Europe, they would recoil before considering European countries our “allies.” Belgium’s persecution—no honest man can call it just a prosecution—of Van Langenhove was plucked from the playbook of Joseph Stalin, replete with illegal surveillance, show trial, and Orwellian oppression.
The case began when the Belgian regime hired a “journalist” to investigate Van Langenhove. This so-called journalist went beyond the usual mainstream media smear job and hacked into a private Discord server run by S&V. Scraping the bottom of the barrel, he found a years-old exchange where teenagers shared memes that some could interpret as offensive. A short time later, jackbooted federal thugs raided the homes of Van Langenhove and 20 of his associates. Government actors leaked years of his personal messages and private photos to the media.
Incredibly, on the grounds that his associates shared edgy memes, Van Langenhove was convicted of “racism” and “denying the Holocaust.” Because no reasonable Belgian would support these fake charges, the judge gagged his speech so that he could not publicly defend himself. He was summarily sentenced to a year in prison and, though a former member of Belgium’s Chamber of Representatives, was banned from politics for ten years. Breaking every code of judicial ethics, the presiding judge called him “a disgusting fascist” on her personal social media.
The oppressed people of Flanders and Europe should not tolerate this naked authoritarianism by their elected officials. Without the basic rights of due process and freedom of speech, Belgium is not free. It is not Western. It cannot claim the true European tradition. Van Langenhove is a political martyr on our modern Crusade of Freedom. His fate in the Ghent Court of Appeals tomorrow should concern every freedom-loving Belgian, European, and American.
For it is not just the Flemish or the Europeans that must deal with the horrific consequences of “anti-racism” and hate speech laws. The same political martyrdom that Belgium is inflicting on Van Langenhove is the fate that Democrats want for every American who shamelessly defends his heritage and tradition. If not for the First Amendment, hate speech laws would already be on the books; jackbooted thugs would be driving battering rams through front doors from New York to San Francisco.
The New York Young Republican Club stood by Van Langenhove when he was convicted last year, and we unequivocally advocate for his release in court tomorrow. Free speech is the cornerstone of a free society; due process is a bulwark against tyranny. Van Langenhove was jailed because the Belgian regime was offended by memes he did not send or condone. If the Court of Appeals fails to acquit him today, his case will set a precedent that will doom European freedoms. And if his conviction is upheld, Van Langenhove will be a martyr for free speech, a hero for generations to come.
Sic Semper Tyrannis.