BELGIUM
Militant unionists' trial reopens
Last month in Belgium the government reopened its attempt
to repress 13 militant union leaders it has put on trial under
an 1887 anti-worker law that makes it just as much a crime to
incite an action by writing and speeches as by direct
involvement. These unionists have led the workers' struggle to
keep their jobs at the Forges of Clabecq. The unionists have
drawn widespread support among union activists in Belgium,
because their class-struggle record has been a shining example
of how it is possible to fight when both big capital and the
government make up the enemy.
By Wim Kenis,
Workers Party of Belgium
About 300 people, among them many union delegates and
militants, came from both French and Flemish-speaking parts of
Belgium and the capital, Brussels, to attend the reopening of
the trial at its 16th session in Nivelles on Sept. 9.
They had come to support Roberto D'Orazio, Silvio Marra and
their fellow workers accused in this war of attrition being
waged by those who want to crush the people of Clabecq and the
ideas they represent.
The trial has been held behind closed doors, with the judge
claiming he would otherwise risk incidents. In reality he is
trying to stop the public from witnessing first-hand this
masquerade that completely exposes the real nature of the
society we live in.
The defendants have fought the violence of a political and
economic system that denies workers employment, pushes the
unemployed and homeless into misery, and expels and murders
refugees. But the trial treats them as criminals and
bullies.
For hours the court considered the charge that D'Orazio
insulted a chief constable in Tubize in December 1996 and
threatened his children. Called as a witness, the cop refused
to say whether he remembered what D'Orazio said.
"Everything is written down in the official police report,"
is all the officer can say.
When D'Orazio rose to declare he never threatened the
constable's children, the judge ordered that it be recorded
that D'Orazio intervened "with vehemence" in spite of his
warnings. This is presented as another proof that D'Orazio is
inclined toward "violence."
The trial has been going on for months in this manner.
Outside the courtroom, people were waiting for a report of
what happened inside. At 1 p.m., the court session was
adjourned. Silvio Marra presented a first-hand account.
`A judiciary that cringes
before big capital'
"Today we had the impression we were living in another
world. This session had nothing to do with Clabecq and the
social shock wave that our struggle sent throughout
Belgium.
"Thousands of workers have refused to accept the
closing-down of the Forges and rejected unemployment. Our
engagement was not criminal; it was the engagement of people
who fought for their jobs and those of a whole region.
"Ten of thousands of people have supported us. After the
board of directors had left, the workers and delegates saved
the factory, preventing it from rusting and falling apart. The
fact that today the [Clabecq] Forges work again
incontrovertibly proves us to have been right.
"Not we but [the responsible government ministers] should
have come here to justify themselves," said Marra. "They had
the means to solve the conflict differently. None of these
things is being discussed here.
"The whole masquerade is being staged to prevent the workers
from learning to stand up proudly. I would like to remind those
people that we have demonstrated 20,000-strong in Namur
[Belgium] against the liars [in the Social Democratic
government]. And they should realize that with such an approach
they will never be able to discourage me. We can no longer put
up with being slandered by those liars.
"We are arriving at the home stretch. If we don't succeed in
stepping up the mobilization then we're heading for
convictions. In particular in the union and the factories we
need to continue the mobilization. We have to make people
understand this concerns the union and not some criminal
affair," Marra concluded.
During the trial's sessions on Sept. 16, 23 and 30, police
officers continued to testify. With the support of the
prosecutor and the judges, they lied and refused to open their
files. The president of the court--a member of the Belgian
nobility--tried to intimidate the Clabecq 13 when they exposed
the cops' lies and provocation.
Mid-November will be the first anniversary of the opening of
the Clabecq trial. A big mobilization is expected at that
time.
Stop the trial of the Clabecq 13!
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