Next week, Acid’s lawyers want to try to convince him to appeal against the judgment that obliges him to pay at least 20,000 euros to the parents of a Reuzegommer. He doesn’t yet know whether he wants to enter the courtroom again: “You’re standing there very naked.”
“This is crazy,” says psychology student Litte Vandesijpe (18). She and her friend Zoë Tanghe (24), who takes care of social media for PVDA youth organization RedFox, sat behind Acid in the Bruges courtroom. “There are fewer young people than last time, in January,” says Tanghe. “But the anger and misunderstanding will be even greater this time, I think. How else can you call this other than class justice?”
When entering, Flanders’ most famous YouTuber stopped for selfies with fans. Something seemed to have broken when leaving. “I thought we lived in a democracy where freedom of expression was allowed,” was his first reaction. “This will go on my criminal record. That is what did not happen with the Reuzegommers. Their criminal record has remained completely clean, mine now carries a prison sentence. That’s shit, that’s terrible. Money always wins.”
‘Mensen expose’
The court finds Nathan Vandergunst (24) aka Acid guilty of harassment because of a video “in which online shaming and doxing took place”. After the Antwerp Court of Appeal imposed community service sentences on 18 members of student club Reuzegom in May for their role in the fatal baptism of student Sanda Dia, Acid posted a video in which he announced “that he would expose people, tell them how dark they are”.
He did that with four Reuzegommers. One of those four was exempt from prosecution at the time because he was not present during the baptism. Vandergunst did consider him responsible as ex-president of Reuzegom. The ‘exhibition’ resulted in the restaurant of the Reuzegommer’s parents being overwhelmed with false reviews and hate mail. It had to close for a while.
Vandergunst has now been sentenced to a three-month suspended prison sentence (for three years), a fine of 800 euros and provisional compensation of 20,000 euros to the company behind the restaurant. A company auditor appointed by the court will calculate the total damage, so the amount can still increase considerably.
Ousmane Dia was awarded compensation of 15,000 euros for the loss of his son, to be paid jointly by the 18 Reuzegommers. They also each received fines of 250 to 400 euros.
“Ridiculous,” CD&V chairman Sammy Mahdi immediately wrote on Instagram. “If I can give the Reuzegommer who now receives 20,000 euros from Acid a tip: give that money to Sanda Dia’s family.” A response followed from Sven Mary, Ousmane Dia’s lawyer: “Shut your mouth, Sammy Mahdi. That’s my wise advice. Stop polarizing and recruiting votes on the back of Sanda Dia.”
It is not the Reuzegommer who receives 20,000 euros, but the company behind his parents’ restaurant. The Reuzegommer himself is allocated 1 symbolic euro.
Appeal procedure?
In the verdict, Vandergunst is accused of acting with “the blind and addictive urge for followers and views on social platforms for the purpose of attention and profit.” According to press judge Amélie Van Belleghem, the fact that the punishment is what it is is partly due to Vandergunst himself. “The court found that community service could also have been an appropriate punishment in this case,” she explained. “The court would have preferred to introduce him to work in a non-virtual world. But community service was not possible. The person concerned had indicated himself that he did not agree to a community service order.”
The Reuzegommers were all asked the same question at the trial in Antwerp last year. The answer was yes eighteen times. That now seems to be the sting in the debates about the Acid verdict. In assessing the crime, the suspect’s attitude in the courtroom seems to carry much more weight than the act that brought him there. Nathan Vandergunst very resolutely refused the offer of community service last month. On the advice of his lawyer, Walter Van Steenbrugge. He pleaded: “Community service, that’s for Reuzegommers.”
Acid now has 30 days to appeal. It is already clear what the advice of his lawyers will be. “We cannot live with this ruling,” says lawyer Quinten De Keersmaecker. “People who express their opinions on relevant issues should not be silenced.”
Walter Van Steenbrugge: “We are going to sit together next week. They also wanted to see our client prosecuted for hate speech, slander and defamation and incitement to violence. That didn’t happen. All that was left was to be harassed. A company has now been awarded disproportionate compensation for this – something that we believe is not possible at all. We will advise the client to challenge this before the court of appeal in Ghent.”
When leaving the courtroom, Acid himself indicated that he had little interest in a new trial. “You’re standing there very naked,” he said. “It’s not a nice place. That’s why I don’t feel like appealing. Perhaps it would also be a good thing if this were just completed. I’m relieved because it’s over and I finally know what my punishment is.”
He is already announcing a new video about the lawsuit. “I remain happy and proud because I have spoken for society and especially for the young people.”
