BELGIANS ARE SUING THE STATE BECAUSE OF THE QUARANTINE

Forty citizens of Belgium filed a lawsuit against the state and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Peter de Crema. The reason was the restrictive measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, which the plaintiffs considered a detriment to the individual freedom.

The statement cites that quarantine is contrary to several articles of the European Convention on the Human Rights. The plaintiff's attorney, Michael Verstraeten, noted that Belgium has copied a tough Chinese system, without concessions on compliance with the European individual rights. However, another expert, the director of the Human Rights League, Pierre Arno Perruti, stood up for the Belgian authorities. He said that despite the fact that the measures are detrimental to the individual freedoms, this is justified by the importance of halting the pandemic.

“The Convention on Human Rights allows to temporarily limit the number of freedoms in some cases,” summed up Perruti.

It is interesting that the plaintiffs require a symbolic amount of 1 euro as a moral compensation. The case will be considered in the Belgian civil court in the nearest future.

It is also known that the Belgian Ministry of Internal Affairs responded to the lawsuit, noting that although the agency has not gone into the details of the claims yet, the country's inhabitants have all the rights to challenge their freedom in the court.