The RTBF SDJ condemns the threats of Georges-Louis Bouchez towards one of his journalists: “an assault of rare violence as well as a crime”

In particular, we hear the president of the MR inviting the journalist to “send” him the author of the article published on the website. “I swear to you that he is going to be super well received. And maybe he may need a card afterwards. That, I can tell you.”

While the article in question talks about a card for people with reduced mobility, the SDJ sees a threat to the physical integrity of one of its journalists.

“To intimidate a journalist and threaten to do justice yourself is an assault of rare violence as well as an offense likely of legal proceedings,” said the SDJ in a statement published on Monday. “If the person concerned considers that there is an error in the processing of information that concerns him, he is entitled to contact the information department of the RTBF to request a correction. In the absence of a response that he considers satisfactory, he can also, like any citizen, enter the competent ethical bodies,” she stresses.

More broadly, the association is concerned about a “particularly dangerous drift against press freedom in a democracy”, especially since “this is not the first time that Georges-Louis Bouchez” acts in this way. “These repeated behaviors are unacceptable. (…) We cannot remain indifferent,” said Fabrice Gérard, president of the SDJ.

The latter will now take the time to reflect on the continuation to give this physical threat to the physical threat to one of its members, she says.

The SDJ also expresses its solidarity towards “our colleague (who) is the subject of a particularly violent harassment campaign on social networks on the part of certain anonymous accounts”, since the publication of the exchange. “Despite these attempts to destabilize, RTBF journalists will not cède at any external pressure and will continue to do their work with rigor, transparency and independence,” she concludes.