In the Chamber's Justice Committee, MR MP Philippe Goffin denounced the fierce disinformation campaign launched by Gaïa.
“Many MPs have been the target, in recent days, of a dishonest campaign portraying them as opponents of animal rights, with all the hateful comments on social media that entailed. Gaïa's factually false communication has led to slander and, above all, deliberately misled the public. No, there is no questioning whatsoever of animal rights in our country! It's outrageous that we even have to point this out,” said Philippe Goffin this Tuesday in the Justice Committee.
As a reminder, the majority of political groups voted against or abstained on an Ecolo-Groen bill that sought to amend the Judicial Code to allow animal welfare associations to take legal action based on the current Article 17. Following a constructive debate informed by the opinions of numerous experts and field actors, MPs thus followed the opinion of the College of Public Prosecutors, which pointed to the significant risk of interference with criminal policy and the normal course of justice, not to mention court overload.
“The justice system already has an entire arsenal to prosecute perpetrators of mistreatment or violence against animals. If a citizen witnesses an act of animal violence, they can file a complaint, after which the police can immediately impose administrative sanctions or refer the file to the Public Prosecutor's Office, which must close the case,” explains Philippe Goffin. “No member of the Justice Committee is opposed to animal rights. During the previous legislature, we had animal welfare enshrined in the Constitution. It is scandalous to portray MPs as something they are not; parliamentarians must not become a doormat for lies! Some people who claim to care about animal welfare seem to care little about human welfare, since they do not hesitate to write all sorts of nonsense.”
Groen MP Stefaan Van Hecke, author of the bill that sparked the controversy, expressed regret at how events unfolded and at the deceitful campaign that followed, for which he is not responsible. He confirmed during the debates that the justice system does indeed use all the means available to it, entirely independently.
MR MP Philippe Goffin has also contacted Gaïa's president to arrange a meeting.