The Brussels based European human rights organization CCIE (governed by Belgian law), was informed this week that its leaders—as well as those of a European partner organization based in France—have received a summons for a hearing scheduled on September 3, 2025, following the house raids and hearings that took place on May 13.
This new summons comes after an initial, hastily arranged attempt to hold a hearing on July 23, 2025, right in the middle of the summer holiday, even though it had been agreed during the May 13 searches that no action would be taken before the autumn.
One of the CCIE leaders, who was abroad for personal and professional reasons at the time, and whose lawyers were also unavailable, had expressed the impossibility of attending on that date.
This rushed approach raises many legitimate questions:
- Why this sudden acceleration in the middle of summer, contrary to previous commitments?
- Are these new steps the result of pressure from the Ministry of Justice, and to what end?
- Is this a political instrumentalization of the justice system?
We cannot ignore these questions, especially as the government is preparing, in the autumn, to relaunch a proposed law targeting so-called “Islamic entryism,” in which the CCIE is falsely named.
This judicial timeline, strangely synchronized with a political strategy, shows that we are not facing a routine legal procedure, but rather a political and judicial operation aimed at criminalizing an organization committed to fighting racism and Islamophobia. We must express deep concern over a justice system being used as a political tool against a human rights organization.
CCIE reaffirms that it has nothing to hide. We have always cooperated with the authorities in full compliance with the law. However, we strongly denounce these attempts to silence critical voices, to delegitimize respected civil society work recognised by experts and, more seriously, to portray human rights defenders as a threat.
What is at stake here goes beyond our organization alone. It concerns the freedom of all associations and the ability to participate in public debate without repression.
We call on political leaders, national, European and international institutions, human rights NGOs, activists, as well as our members and supporters, to mobilize and demand that CCIE, its leaders, and its partners be left in peace, no longer harassed for their actions, their commitments, and their positions fully fall within the framework of fundamental rights.
