OPINION:
Europe’s decline into authoritarianism was on display in Belgium last week as an appeals court condemned a former member of the Federal Parliament to a year in jail over internet memes.
The politician, Dries Van Langenhove, wasn’t even the one who shared the offending content. As the appellate panel stated, “It is not the case that it must be indicated which specific material acts the defendant is said to have committed.”
Not that one would know that by reading the media coverage. Mr. Van Langenhove is universally marginalized with a “far right” label because he questions the wisdom of flooding his country with migrants from the Third World. His second, unforgivable sin is advocating for Belgium to be run by its own elected representatives, not by European Union bureaucrats.
Eight years ago, when he was 23, Mr. Van Langenhove founded an organization to encourage political activism among Flemish youths.