The "pipigate" or how a drunken evening ends in a political nightmare for the Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne. The story is quite trivial at first: on August 14, the minister receives friends at his home to celebrate his birthday. It's summer. We celebrate. We drink beers. And some guests have the bad idea to relieve their bladders against the police dispatch rider parked in front of the minister's house. One of the guests takes photos to immortalize this teenage provocation.
The police van is empty. Its presence is explained by the protection enjoyed by Vincent Van Quickenborne. Indeed, a year ago, towards the end of September 2022, he escaped an incredible kidnapping attempt by four men, fortunately arrested before taking action. Drug traffickers are suspected.
The ace ! Police surveillance cameras captured the scene. The guests have fun riding in the van three times. And the police claim that, around 4 a.m., the minister himself, in the company of a guest, would have mimed the action of urinating while having fun with the images seen on a mobile phone. In short, in the land of Manneken-Pis, Vincent Van Quickenborne is accused of having laughed at the nonsense of his guests, thus showing little respect for the police institution responsible for protecting his life...
The scandal was revealed on August 23 by VRT, Flemish radio and television, which specified the times when the urinations took place: 8:39 p.m., then 10:5 p.m. and finally a third time at 12:2 a.m.… All of this took on enormous proportions in this small, already very fractured country. The Belgian minister pleads not guilty and says he himself is shocked by the behavior of his guests. “I want to be very clear about the facts themselves: I knew nothing about it until it was published in the press,” he tells VRT. I didn't leave my house until I saw the last guest leaving, around 3:30 a.m., until their taxi arrived. »
He produces, in support of his defense, images from surveillance cameras in his own house, and pleads to RTBF that his attitude of leaning back is being misinterpreted. According to him, he in no way imitates the urination of his guests while enjoying it, he plays air guitar. Vincent Van Quickenborne argues that this controversy was fabricated by two police unions, angry that he had decided to gradually end their special retirement plan at age 58.
Of course, the "pipigate" also takes on a political twist. The opposition of Vlaams Belang (Flemish nationalist) demands the resignation of the minister, a Flemish liberal, member of the Open VLD. Justice is seized and the prosecution initiates an investigation to identify the people who urinated on the police van. Vincent Van Quickenborne must also explain himself to the House Justice Committee…
