Mayors, police, and State security need to get information more easily and be able to act to prevent more tragedies. This is according to Bart De Wever, mayor of Antwerp and President of the New Flemish Alliance. He gave an interview to the Gazet Van Antwerpen and Het Belang van Limburg, which was published on Saturday. He has proposed a “Patriot Act”, inspired by the American one.
“It’s crazy I can’t act until after there has been a incident, even though I know where the young radicals are. I can’t close down a house, I can’t bug a phone, or put someone in custody as a preventative measure. We could do that if we had more power”, the Antwerp mayor explained.
Mr De Wever is preparing legislative initiatives to discuss a “Patriot Act” when the government meets again. “It’s an absolute priority for me”, he says.
The New Flemish Alliance President also wants to ban supporting the Islamic State, supervise the financing of mosques, and place jihadists returning from combat under arrest. He says his party will not form an alliance to make up a majority if there is not a vote on banning slaughter without stunning.
(Source: Belga)
