Sypol unionist receives death threats

Ruddy Callewaert, spokesman for Belgian police union Sypol.be, has been threatened with death by fellow officers who accuse him of filing the lawsuit on the pension plan with the Constitutional Court, report Het Nieuwsblad, Gazet van Antwerpen and De Tijd.

The ruling of the Constitutional Court requires thousands of police officers to work up to eight years longer before they can retire. It could see around 35,000 policemen having to retire later, at age 60 or 62, instead of between 54 and 58 as is currently the case.

The Constitutional Court determined that everyone in Belgium has to work longer before retiring, including police officers. But the other unions are furious with Sypol because of the ruling. “I got a lot of strong reactions by email, text message and voicemail,” said Callewaert. “Even death threats.” The unionist is therefore filing a complaint today with police monitoring committee, Comité P.