UA
FR
DEBy Justine Murray and Camille Gilles
Two months ago, the screening of a film containing elements of Russian propaganda was prevented in Brussels. This documentary, which claims to present a different version of reality from that portrayed by the Western media, was filmed in the occupied territories of Donbass at the invitation of the Russian news agency Vashi Novosti, without any authorisation from the Ukrainian government. Numerous hateful comments posted online by the film’s director against Ukrainian people, labelling them as ‘Ukro-Nazis’ have been brought to light, revealing the true bias of the documentary’s director, who nevertheless claimed to be merely anti-war. This information only reinforced the determination to have the screening of this documentary cancelled (full details of this case can be found in the article and the YouTube video we produced at this time on this subject).
This propaganda film, called Ukraine-Russia: Behind the Smokescreen, made by Belgian journalist Alexandre Penasse, has been attempted to be shown in Brussels numerous times since this time. But the second attempt, which was a secret screening, was attempted in Woluwe Saint-Pierre in March, which is Georges Dallemagne’s neighborhood, and started a lawsuit between the event organizer Kairos, the Woluwe Saint-Pierre municipality, and Georges Dallemagne.
It was stated that the film screening was kept a secret for security reasons due to the sensitive nature of the film, but that can be debated since previous screenings of the film were shut down, and many other subsequentscreenings have been canceled. People attending the screening at Woluwe Saint-Pierre stated that you needed a special invitation from Kairos, the location of the event was not given out until the day of, and attendees were told not to tell others about the event. All of this shows that this film was not truly allowed to be shown in Belgium.
This second attempted screening was shut down hours before it was supposed to start, which is part of what led to the lawsuit by the event organizer, Kairos Press. The other element of the lawsuit is a Facebook post made by Georges Dallemagne that called out the film’s use of hate speech disguised as truth-telling, the framing of Ukrainians as neo-nazis, and a narrative that turns the aggressor into a liberator, all things that are classic Russian propaganda tactics used to try to justify the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Georges Dallemagne had every right to make this post and even mentions in it that he is a strong advocate for freedom of speech, but that it should never be used to spread hate and justify an unjust war.
The Belgian courts backed Georges Dallemagne in these comments, and he won the lawsuit the Kairos filed against them. The French-speaking Court of First Instance in Brussels delivered its verdict on 8 June, ruling that the comments made by Georges Dallemagne, which the plaintiff had objected to, fell within the bounds of his right to freedom of expression as a politician. The Court also emphasised that, in view of the statements published on his Facebook account in which Alexandre Penasse claims that “Ukro-Nazis want to ban the screening”, Georges Dallemagne’s position does not appear to be entirely without factual basis.
Despite getting shut down every time, Kairos continues to plan screenings of this film in Brussels. So far, all of these have been canceled due to the hard work of Promote Ukraine, which has brought to light many of the awful and clearly biased statements made by Kairos towards Ukrainians. In many of his posts and videos, he refers to Ukrainians as Ukro-nazis and term deeply hateful and strategic. Kairos wants to frame Ukraine as the aggressor, which is obvious misinformation. He has also made personal and unfounded attacks against the founder of Promote Ukraine, Marta Barandiy. Stating that Promote Ukraine is paying the Belgian government to make sure the film is never released. This is completely false and was proven when he lost the lawsuit previously mentioned.
Ultimately, the Court’s judgment found the claims made by Mr Alexandre Penasse and Kairos to be unfounded and dismissed them.