The De Pauw camp is claiming compensation from the public broadcaster because it would have unlawfully terminated the collaboration in 2017. Until his first interrogation in early 2018, Bart De Pauw did not know exactly what he was accused of and by whom. According to the notice of default he filed against the VRT last year, he feels that he has not even been given the chance to defend himself.
De Pauw and his family jointly demand 12 million euros from the public broadcaster for the damage suffered. According to the De Pauw camp, the termination of the collaboration with his production house Koeken Troef! a hasty decision. VRT CEO Paul Lembrechts publicly justified himself in 2017 with the announcement that there were “hundreds of text messages with sexual and pornographic statements”.
The question at issue in those civil proceedings is whether the VRT had valid reasons to terminate the collaboration and whether Bart De Pauw’s claim for damages is therefore justified. Presumably, the judgment of the criminal court will be used as ammunition in this case.
Sealed Testimonials
The moment the TV maker was knocked off the door of the VRT, the public broadcaster, as is known, contained a cover with the sealed testimonies of actresses Maaike Cafmeyer and Liesa Naert, who had gone to a confidential adviser to report his cross-border behaviour.
For Liesa Naert, the court convicted the TV maker of assault, mainly because of the incident in which he had banged on the door of her student room while she had made it clear to him that he was not welcome.
The fact that Naert would have received a bombardment of text messages from De Pauw was not prevented, because there were no longer any messages on her mobile and the court did not want to take into account a notebook in which the actress says she had meticulously written all his texts. kept up. “This is a unilateral document prepared by her that contains fragmentary messages that emanate only from the defendant, and there is no certainty as to whether the content of these messages corresponds to the messages actually sent,” the verdict said.
As far as Maaike Cafmeyer is concerned, the Mechelen court acquitted Bart De Pauw across the board. She stated during the trial that De Pauw had also bombarded her with texting years ago, but these were no longer available. Cafmeyer had also informed the confidential adviser of the VRT about the situation of Ella-June Henrard, the actress who she knew had also received a stream of text messages. Bart De Pauw was convicted for this.
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