Press Interpreter

02/15/06 –- The immunity of diplomats reaches far. Even crimes are subject to it.

Foreign diplomats who commit a traffic violation or even a more serious crime in Belgium cannot be prosecuted. Neither can they be obliged to pay indemnities.

02/15/06 -- “I was scared to death�, says Johan van Hecke, who leads the team of EU election observers in Haiti.

The protesting mass in the streets of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince are becoming everyday more aggressive. “They are all armed with pole-axes and machetes�, says member of the European Parliament Johan van Hecke on the phone from Haiti. Van Hecke leads in Haiti the team of European observers that has monitored this past Tuesday’s presidential elections. The atmosphere is getting grimmer, because one week after the elections it is still not clear if René Préval, the big favourite of the poor Haitians, has won the first round with more than fifty percent of the votes.

02/08/06 –- Are the cartoon-rows the subject of discussion in schools? Antwerp public schools do not find discussions opportune at this time. Teachers have to be strong didactically.

The Mohammed-cartoons do create noise in Flemish schools, or at least in the Antwerp secondary public schools. It makes sense that the newsworthiness of the cartoons does create an opportunity for teachers to set up discussions about freedom of speech and religion, and the borders of these freedoms.

02/08/06 –- Alcohol usage is a socially accepted phenomenon. It is a bad example for young people.

In the school year 2000-2001, 15% of 17 to 18 year old students said they had used cannabis on a regular basis. Last year this figure dropped to 6.5 percent.

02/07/06 –- Cameras, together with more human presence, have to increase security on the Brussels public transportation network.

The Brussels minister of Mobility, Pascal Smet (SP. A), has yesterday announced that all buses, trams and underground carriages of the public transportation company MIVB will receive cameras. Currently, one fifth of the vehicle park are equipped with these. In the recently bought 68 trams and 140 buses, which are going to be delivered in March, cameras are standard equipment. The same applies to the 15 underground carriages arriving from 2007 on.

10/28/05 -- A judge in the Flemish town of Dendermonde ruled that Catholic schools are qualitatively better than any other schools. His judgment literally reads that “aside from any philosophical consideration, it can safely be asserted that Catholic schools and universities offer by far the best education.� The board of state schools is flabbergasted.

10/24/05 -- A dozen far-right Flemish nationalists interrupted a performance of the opera ‘La muette de Portici’ in the Ghent concert hall yesterday afternoon. Members of Voorpost, NSV and NJSV also distributed pamphlets demanding Flemish independence and Anschluss with the Netherlands.

07/14/05 –- Street prostitutes’ clients in Antwerp risk a fine of up to 250 euro from November on, a novelty in Belgium. In so doing, the Antwerp city council wants to tackle street prostitution, in combination with the prohibition of street prostitution applicable to the prostitutes themselves.

10/07/05 -- The Belgian Center for the Equality of Opportunities and the Fight against Racism has received twelve complaints by persons who feel offended or hurt by the song “Let’s get rid of America� by Raymond van het Groenewoud. After the Center contacted the singer and his management, van het Groenewoud was willing to post an explanatory open letter on his website.

09/15/05 -- Brussels -- The song “Let’s get rid of America� (Weg met Amerika) went unnoticed for weeks, but when it was played on the Belgian radio last Friday, it caused a huge stir. Singer Raymond van het Groenewoud is a racist who would not dare to write about Moroccans what he writes about Americans.