One of the European Parliament’s deprived women of African descent was subjected to harsh treatment by the Belgian police after they ordered her to stand against the wall and raise her hands to the top, and it was ironically that she arrived in the Belgian capital to discuss racist behavior in the Union towards blacks, Asians and other minorities.
Her name is Beret Herzberg-Fofana, and she is considered the first German member of the European Parliament of African descent. I arrived in Brussels to discuss all forms of racial discrimination. But she was not expecting her to be a victim of racial discrimination by the Belgian police, while she came to address this issue.
When she arrived in Brussels on Tuesday at lunchtime, she saw nine police officers "harass" two young black men. While standing across the street, she took out her mobile phone to record the scene, before finding herself facing the police.
This former teacher and 71-year-old university lecturer recounted that four officers brutally pushed her against the wall, forced her to stand with her hands up and her legs open, while busy searching her handbag.
Speaking the next day in the European Parliament, Herzburger-Fofana told European Parliament members that she was "a victim of police violence and latent racist acts."
The European Parliament member recounted that she was treated with extreme rudeness, and "not with the polite behavior we expect from the police," even though she showed identity documents to the officers, but the officer did not believe that she was a member of the European Parliament until when the official driver of the parliament arrived.
European Parliament President David Sassouli wrote to the Belgian Prime Minister, Sophie Wilmie, calling on her to take "immediate and necessary measures."
A spokesman for the North Brussels Police said that an internal investigation had taken place, while the police refused to accuse the officer of violence or inappropriate behavior.
"Her identity has not been verified because she was imagining and because she has become involved in the case of the two young men," the spokesman added, adding that Herzburger-Fofana was taking measures against her "by means of regular measures."
According to the police, the Prosecutor has opened a separate investigation, accusing Herzberg - Fofana of a charge of insulting the police - a charge the deputy strongly denies. She claims that the officers were angry because she defended herself.
She says, "I did not imagine that the average citizen is afraid of the police, and this is what hurts me, because there are many citizens who live in this situation and do not have the opportunity to defend themselves because they do not know their rights."
This deputy in the European Parliament was elected representative of the Green Party in 2019. She has been a consultant in her Bavarian hometown in Erlangen since 2005, and she was ranked 21st on the party list.
She said it was "always difficult" for people of foreign origin to make progress in politics. She specializes in German languages and African literature, and during her five-year tenure, she has been focusing on European Union development policy, European Union relations with Africa and anti-discrimination policies.
This incident comes before the European Parliament voted on a non-binding resolution against racism on Friday, drafted in response to global protests after the death of the black American, George Floyd in Minnesota by a white officer.
The draft resolution sparked the ill-treatment of Asian and black African citizens and ethnic minorities at the hands of the police - a problem highlighted by Herzberg-Fofana when she co-signed a petition to the European Commission President, Ursula von der Lin, criticizing a senior EU official European because of its "public denial of racism", and this official in charge of promoting the European way of life, told the Financial Times this month that Europe had no issues "flagrantly related to police brutality."
Herzberger Fofana said the EU commissioner should be better informed: "Because it is difficult for some people to give up because they do not face police violence."
The letter called on Von der Leyen's deputy to apologize or issue an explanatory statement acknowledging "the seriousness of systemic and structural racism in the European Union."
The European Union has no powers over the police, education, health, housing, and social services, as European Parliament members also want to see measures to address discrimination by national governments.
Herzburger Fofana wants to see better implementation of existing laws, including equality. She also believes that the European Union needs to take a stand against racism, "break the silence ... and recognize the seriousness of the existing systemic and structural racism."