Belgian Politician Faces Racist Abuse on Train Amid Ticket Inspection Incident

It all started with a rather rude routine check. A ticket inspector sharply questioned the elected official after he and one of his friends took a seat in the first-class train, reports La Capitale. Meanwhile, the train was still on the platform. "We hadn’t been sitting for a minute when a ticket inspector came and said right away: ’Do you know you’re in first class? You need a special ticket.’ I told her I was aware of that and that I had the necessary ticket. She then demanded to see it and I told her I found that a bit strong since the train hadn’t even started yet and we weren’t the only ones in the compartment," he explains.

Apparently, the elected official’s response did not please her. She then calls on the security present at the station. The municipal councilor then presents his ticket, which is in order. "I don’t like that kind of person. He’s a dirty Arab bastard!" exclaims a passenger just after the train started. A racist insult that shocked Hicham Zougagh who complained to the ticket inspector. "I explained to her what the passenger had said and asked her to call the police so we could explain calmly at the next stop. She told me that it was just a common insult and that she couldn’t do anything about it and that I should call the police myself," recounts the elected official.

Following the advice of the witnesses to the scene, he decided to call the police. "They told me they couldn’t do anything and that the ticket inspector had to call," he said. Shortly afterwards, the insulting passenger calmly got off the train at Mont-Saint-Guibert, without being disturbed in any way. This form of impunity and injustice does not suit the Chastre councilor. For him, such insults have no place in society.

"The most important message I want to get across to all those who have been victims of racist insults or who will be one day is to remain calm but not to let it go. We must use all legal means to put an end to insults that are anything but trivial," he adds. Subsequently, Hicham Zougagh filed a complaint with the railway police.