The City of Andenne will proceed with a lawsuit against the magazine Wilfried and one of its journalists over an article about its former mayor Claude Eerdekens.
The decision was made during a closed meeting of the municipal council on Monday evening, as reported by several media outlets.
On Tuesday, the Belgian Press Council (CDJ) issued a warning about attempts to undermine the freedom of information of the local Namur media outlet Boukè by the outgoing mayor of Andenne, Claude Eerdekens, and the municipal council.
The article, titled Claude Eerdekens, the Old Beast of Andenne was written by Mélanie De Groote and published in the October 2024 edition of the Belgian quarterly Wilfried. It includes testimonies from female officials and workers alleging “moral and sexual harassment by the mayor.”
Following an initiative by the college, the municipal council voted on 21 October, shortly after the local elections, to take legal action against the author and the cooperative society that publishes Wilfried.
However, in mid-January, Walloon Minister of Local Authorities, François Desquesnes (Les Engagés), overturned this decision, arguing it had been made “in extremis” and should be decided by the newly elected council members from the 14 October elections.
On 17 February, the council reconsidered the matter and reaffirmed its commitment to sue both the magazine’s publisher and its journalist.
The vote was held in a closed session, according to local democracy and decentralisation regulations when pursuing legal action against an individual. The majority won over the opposition, according to multiple media sources.
Claude Eerdekens, who served as mayor of Andenne for over 50 years, was succeeded by his socialist running mate Vincent Sampaoli in the latest elections. Now 76, Eerdekens is the president of the Public Centre for Social Welfare (CPAS) and the alderman for Finance, Personnel, and Legal Affairs.
A report commissioned by Minister Desquesnes stated that the alleged behaviours described in the Wilfried article do fall under Eerdekens’ official duties, as the municipal college clarified. Thus, there is no regional obstacle to the City of Andenne’s legal action.
Despite this, the municipal authorities ignored the response of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), which recently raised an alert on the “Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists.” The EFJ urged Andenne to “refrain from joining Claude Eerdekens’ lawsuit to defend his private interests” and to “dismiss the legal action.”
