I just received the written verdict. It's very long so it will take time to analyse everything, but the 12 month prison sentence appears to be a suspended sentence.

The irony is that I have been fighting against mass migration for well over a decade now, and it has gotten me a prison sentence. But this prison sentence is suspended most likely because the prisons in Belgium are literally full of (illegal) migrants.

The regime's strategy is probably also to weaken public outrage by giving me a suspended sentence. Most people don't realise that the end result of such a sentence is the same.

One politically incorrect tweet can now put me in jail. One meme sent by someone else in a groupchat I am in, can turn the suspended sentence into an effective one.

This suspended sentence is the gravest form of censorship they could pursue and an effective way to kill activism.

The consequences of this verdict are insane. They're doing this to me to send YOU a message. It is now possible in Europe to be convicted for memes posted by someone else in a groupchat. People will now not only self-censor en masse, they will also distance themselves from eachother out of fear of being convicted for what OTHERS say or joke about.

Personally, this verdict means I will have an even harder time to do business, get a loan, travel abroad and do basically anything a young father, entrepreneur and activist would have to do.

It's a dark day for freedom of speech and for Europe. It's a very dark day for me, my family and my fellow activists, as seven years of terror will now turn into many more years of terror.

But I will not back down. Never.

Being convicted by a regime that wants to destroy its own people is a medal of honour and I will wear it with pride.

If you want to support me, share this message. Raise awareness of this injustice.

These are just my first thoughts. I will give a full reaction soon. (photo by ©Photo News)

Afonso Gonçalves

Forwarded from Dries Van Langenhove

I just received the written verdict. It's very long so it will take time to analyse everything, but the 12 month prison sentence appears to be a suspended sentence.

The irony is that I have been fighting against mass migration for well over a decade now, and it has gotten me a prison sentence. But this prison sentence is suspended most likely because the prisons in Belgium are literally full of (illegal) migrants.

The regime's strategy is probably also to weaken public outrage by giving me a suspended sentence. Most people don't realise that the end result of such a sentence is the same.

One politically incorrect tweet can now put me in jail. One meme sent by someone else in a groupchat I am in, can turn the suspended sentence into an effective one.

This suspended sentence is the gravest form of censorship they could pursue and an effective way to kill activism.

The consequences of this verdict are insane. They're doing this to me to send YOU a message. It is now possible in Europe to be convicted for memes posted by someone else in a groupchat. People will now not only self-censor en masse, they will also distance themselves from eachother out of fear of being convicted for what OTHERS say or joke about.

Personally, this verdict means I will have an even harder time to do business, get a loan, travel abroad and do basically anything a young father, entrepreneur and activist would have to do.

It's a dark day for freedom of speech and for Europe. It's a very dark day for me, my family and my fellow activists, as seven years of terror will now turn into many more years of terror.

But I will not back down. Never.

Being convicted by a regime that wants to destroy its own people is a medal of honour and I will wear it with pride.

If you want to support me, share this message. Raise awareness of this injustice.

These are just my first thoughts. I will give a full reaction soon. (photo by ©Photo News)

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1.1K viewsJun 20 at 11:23