Four Arrested over Alleged Plot to Kidnap Belgian Justice Minister
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Police in the Netherlands have arrested four suspects over what Belgium’s justice minister described as a plan to kidnap him.
Vincent Van Quickenborne, who is also the mayor of the city of Kortrijk in western Flanders, appeared to blame a “drug mafia” in a video message run by state broadcaster RTBF.
Addressing an audience at a local ball, he said that in a phone call on Thursday, a federal prosecutor had warned him of a kidnap plan targeting him.
On Saturday Van Quickenborne said: “I will be placed under strict security for the time being and will not be able to participate in some planned activities in the coming days. It’s not pleasant, but understandable.
“Let me be clear: the people behind this are achieving the opposite of what they aim for. It strengthens me in the belief that we need to keep fighting. The criminals feel trapped. That feeling is right. Because we will continue to fight organised crime, with more manpower and resources than before.
“In our democratic rule of law we will never fold to violence. Never.”
Federal prosecutors said on Saturday that police had beefed up security for Van Quickenborne, citing a serious “threat”. They said three people had been detained in the Netherlands and that Belgian authorities were seeking their extradition.
A spokesman for the Dutch prosecutor’s office in the Hague said the trio, all Dutch, were aged 20, 29 and 48. On Sunday, a judicial source said a fourth suspect had been arrested in the Netherlands.
Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo tweeted on Saturday that the threat to Quickenborne was “totally unacceptable. But it must be clear: we will not be intimidated by anyone. The work continues.”
Following a report in the Flemish daily Het Laatste Nieuws, the source confirmed to AFP that an automatic weapon had been found in a vehicle spotted near the minister’s home in Kortrijk. Belgian news outlet VRT reported that the vehicle contained Kalashnikovs, other firearms and two bottles of petrol.
The prosecutor’s office said it had been informed last week of a “possible threat”, which led to an investigation. It would not provide further details.