One-third of Belgian federal judicial police witness corruption

(MENAFN) An internal inquiry has raised serious concerns about corruption and undue influence within Belgium’s federal judicial police. According to reports, nearly one in three officers claim to have witnessed misconduct or interference in investigations over the course of their careers.

The investigation, which began in 2021, collected responses from 1,776 of the 3,670 federal judicial police investigators. The findings indicate that 45.3% of those surveyed expressed frequent worry about outside influence affecting cases in the past five years. Allegations included unlawful case closures, investigative pressure, and document falsification. Officers cited examples such as intentionally ignoring certain crimes to artificially reduce crime statistics or manipulating public records to target colleagues. Political figures were identified as the primary source of undue interference, according to reports.

The report was submitted over the summer to federal judicial police leadership and Federal Police Commissioner General Eric Snoeck, but it has not been released publicly. Belgium’s home affairs minister, Bernard Quintin, voiced concerns in parliament regarding the report’s methodology and the representativeness of the survey. Both Quintin and federal police officials have requested an audit of the inquiry’s approach.

Opposition party Groen has urged parliamentary hearings involving Quintin and senior police leadership and has not ruled out initiating a formal investigation. “The voluminous report leaves no room for doubt: some of our officers are being manipulated and have far too little awareness of what is and is not acceptable,” Groen lawmaker Matti Vandemaele stated.

Belgium’s federal judicial police are a specialized branch responsible for investigating serious and complex crimes, operating under the direct authority of the judiciary, according to reports.

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