The Hainaut Court of Appeal delivered its judgment on Wednesday concerning the electoral fraud which took place in the commune of Neufchâteau (province of Luxembourg), during the municipal election of October 14, 2018. Former mayor Dimitri Fourny sentenced to six months in prison, with a simple suspended sentence.
Found partially guilty of forgery and use of forgery by the Mons criminal court last May, Dimitri Fourny was sentenced at first instance to 12 months in prison, suspended for a period of five years and a ban on appear on the electoral lists for a period of 10 years. Dimitri Fourny immediately appealed.
On the morning of the election, the outgoing mayor (cdH, which has since become Les Engagés) gave his relatives proxies in order to collect votes in the retirement home “Le clos des Seigneurs”. During the count, it turned out that Dimitri Fourny had been re-elected mayor by a margin of 16 votes. The former mayor was then the subject of a complaint and an investigation for forgery and use of false electoral proxies.
The Mons Criminal Court ruled that this trained lawyer could not be unaware that he was breaking the law by launching this “vote hunt” in an establishment where he knew that citizens were in a state of weakness. “The facts are all the more serious as he betrayed the trust of voters while he was mayor“, underlined the judgment.
On Wednesday, the Hainaut Court of Appeal therefore confirmed his conviction for forgery and use of forgery. However, she reduced the ex-politician’s sentence to six months in prison, suspended for a period of three years, and a fine of 8,000 euros (or two months in prison).
