Sharia4Belgium was a Belgian Islamist organisation which called for Belgium to convert itself into an Islamic state. In February 2015 the group was designated a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

organisation by a Belgian judge. By 7 October 2012 the organization was disbanded.Sharia4belgium stopt ermee

De Standaard ''De Standaard'' (meaning ''The Standard'' in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and F ...

, 8 oktober 2012. In 2010 Sharia4Belgium disrupted a lecture by Benno Barnard at the University of Antwerp. In early April 2010, Belgium's interior minister

Annemie Turtelboom Annemie Turtelboom (born 22 November 1967) is a former Belgian minister, who is currently serving as the Belgian Member of The European Court of Auditors since 2018. Early career Annemie Turtelboom graduated from the Katholieke Universiteit L ...

ordered the monitoring of the organisation's website. In 2011 the organisation called the death of Vlaams Belang politician

Marie-Rose Morel Marie Rose Louise Constant Morel (26 August 1972 – 8 February 2011) was a Flemish-Belgian politician. She became a member of the Flemish Parliament for the Vlaams Belang in 2004, after leaving the New-Flemish Alliance. In 1994, Morel was ele ...

a "punishment of Allah". Then-defence minister Pieter De Crem was threatened with his life on the internet because of the Belgian participation in

Operation Odyssey Dawn Operation Odyssey Dawn was the U.S. code name for the American role in the international military operation in Libya to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 during the initial period of 19–31 March 2011, which continued aft ...

in Libya. Sharia4Belgium was summoned to the

correctional tribunal In France, the ''tribunal correctionnel'' is the court of first instance () that governs in penal matters over offenses classified as misdemeanors

for incitement to hatred in 2011. In 2016 the organization was classed as terrorist organization as Fouad Belkacem had recruited several young men to fight for the Islamic State in Syria. Belkacem and 45 other members were found guilty of membership in a terrorist group.

Fouad Belkacem

Fouad Belkacem, with dual Belgian and Moroccan citizenship, was the spokesman of the organisation and was inspired by UK-based Islamist

Anjem Choudary Anjem Choudary (, aka Abu Luqman; born 18 January 1967) is a Pakistani-British Islamist and a social and political activist who has been described as "the face" of militant Islamism or the "best known" Islamic extremist in Britain. Members ...

. Also known by the alias "Abu Imran", he repeatedly made controversial comments, and stated he had been praying for

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

. When Belkacem was invited to the 2012 ''Global Shariah Conference'', organised by the radical Islamic movement

Sharia4Holland Sharia4Holland was an Islamist movement, openly seeking to institute Sharia law in the Netherlands. The group was an offshoot of the Belgian extremist network Sharia4Belgium. History At the height of the Occupy movement in 2011, members of Sh ...

, the

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...

asked ministers

Ivo Opstelten Ivo Willem Opstelten (born 31 January 1944) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Opstelten applied at Leiden University in May 1963 majoring in Law and obtaining an Bach ...

and Gerd Leers to treat Belkacem as

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

. Belkacem has a criminal record for burglary and resisting arrest and was sentenced in 2002, 2004 and 2007. In 2012, he was re-sentenced in Antwerp to two years' imprisonment for incitement of hatred towards non-Muslims. Morocco was seeking his extradition in connection with the drug trade. Belkacem was arrested on the morning of 7 June 2012. He was sentenced in Morocco for possession of illegal drugs. On 11 February 2015, Belkacem was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment in Belgium. In October 2018, he was stripped of his

Belgian citizenship Belgian nationality law provides for the conditions in which a person holds Belgian nationality and is based on a mixture of the principles of ''jus sanguinis'' and ''jus soli''. Belgian nationality is the status of being a citizen of Belgium. N ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharia4Belgium Defunct organizations designated as terrorist in Europe Islam-related controversies in Europe Islamism in Belgium People who lost Belgian citizenship Political controversies in Belgium Religious controversies in Belgium Religious organisations based in Belgium Salafi Jihadist groups Sharia in Europe

Fouad Belkacem

See also

References