Brussels firefighter demoted over racist post on social media

A Brussels firefighter has been demoted after responding with a racist comment to a colleague's Facebook post late last year in relation to deaths from Covid-19 in communes with a high-density of immigrants.

In October, a member of the Brussels ‎Fire and Emergency Medical Aid Service‎ (Siamu) published a post on his Facebook page, in relation to the figures of the Covid-19 pandemic which read: "Still bizarre that the three municipalities with the most positive cases in Brussels are Anderlecht, Molenbeek, Schaerbeek".

Another firefighter replied: "I know why, and I hope there will be more deaths."

The words of this fireman, who also worked at the time as a paramedic, provoked an outcry in the Brussels political circles. The Socialist leader of the regional deputies Jamal Ikazban and Green Party politician Hicham Tahli led the calls for the secretary of state in charge of Siamu, Pascal Smet and the management of the fire brigade to punish the author.

Finally, at the end of the disciplinary procedure, punishment has been meted out: the officer responsible for the offensive reply has been demoted from a corporal to the rank of mere firefighter.

As a result, he had to give up hopes of taking the sergeant’s examination, as he intended. To one day be promoted to the rank of corporal again, he will have to retake the relevant exam, which has become considerably more difficult since the time he passed it, according to an internal source at the Siamu. The sanctioned firefighter has already lodged an appeal with the regional appeals chamber of the Brussels Region.

Hicham Tahli said he was "pleased that at last the Siamu is taking action in relation to the seriousness of what the officer has said. The demotion is a very strong symbolic action and is the last sanction before removal."

Jamal Ikazban did not intend to comment on the nature of the sanction. "There is a sanction, it is already an important step,” he said. “The Siamu could not remain unreactive in relation to such statements and such behaviour, but there are others like this officer. This sanction - it is what it is - and I hope it will make others think because, in Siamu, there are still other people who shame the uniform every day.”

An external audit was recently carried out on the topic of racism within Siamu. The results are expected in March.