He ‘pipigate’ scandal that a minister of Belgium It is causing rejection in the country and could even cost him his position. The Minister of Justice celebrated his 50th birthday and security cameras captured images of several guests urinating on empty police vans and although it occurred three weeks ago, the incident reached the media last Monday through the Flemish public radio and television VRT. Since then, the news has captured the attention of the media, the political class and social networks in the European country, until reaching the federal Parliament.

After media attention and criticism, Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborneapologized this Thursday at the parliamentary headquarters for the behavior of three of the guests at his party. 50th birthdaywho urinated several times on a police van, and showed a video to support that he was not aware of it or engaged in indecorous behavior.

“I felt ashamed of the people I invited and who urinated, not once but three times, on a police van (…). It is inadmissible“Van Quickenborne said this Thursday in a extraordinary appearancebefore the Justice Commission of the Federal Parliament to explain himself about a scandal that in Belgium is known as “pipigate”.

“It seems surreal to have to describe every minute of that night. But that’s what they ask of me, so I do it,” said the Flemish liberal to present his version of events in a scene criticized by police unions and political parties and parodied inside and outside the country. “From the set of Quotidien (France) to Dutch television: Van Quickborne’s ‘pipigate’, object of ridicule by our neighbors,” points out an article published this Thursday by the Belgian public radio television RTBF, which these days has opened the news with the incident.

A birthday party with 60 guests

The minister turned 50 on August 1 and on the night of the 14th to the 15th of that same summer month he organized a party with 60 guests in his house in the Flemish town of Cortrique (southwest), of which he has been mayor since 2013. “Turning fifty is an important moment (…) I wanted to celebrate a party like when I was young,” said Van Quickborne, who explained that many of his guests were “heavy metal fans.”

The police cameras outside the house recorded how three of his friends left the house at 8:39 p.m. at night with cars and They urinated against a police van -empty- parked in front of the home of the head of Justice, which enjoys special protection because a year ago the security forces thwarted an attempted kidnapping attributed to organized crime. Furthermore, there was a second urinary excursion to the van at 10:05 p.m. and a third episode at 00.02.

But those images did not emerge and are in the possession of the Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating the events, and for now only the story from a journalist from the VRT network who has seen them and whose story commits the head of Justice. The minister did not dispute these facts, but provided another recording from the house’s security cameras to, as he said, “demonstrate” that the “insinuations” that he was aware of them are erroneous.

The video of the Minister with different interpretations

The video – which Van Quickborne had already transferred to the media and which was shown today in parliament – shows how the minister leaves the house with a friend at 3:59 in the morning, four hours after the last urination of his other guests. Next, there is a sequence with different interpretations: the politician jokes with his friend several meters from the van, imitates what may seem like the posture of a drunk urinating, they take a “selfie”, they approach the police van and Van Quickborne opens and closes the vehicle door.

The public official claims that he came out to say goodbye to his best friend and insists that he did not know what his guests did. He does not remember what exactly his position of discord responded to at the end of a early morning party with plenty of alcoholbut he pointed out that the interpretation of those who believe that play an imaginary guitar. “I’m a guitar fan, I like heavy metal, maybe,” said Van Quickborne, who explained that he opened and closed the police vehicle door “because it wasn’t closed properly.”

The minister assured that he only learned about the behavior of his friends days later and described to the deputies his reaction upon learning what had happened. “I called them, insulted them and told them that they had to appear before the Prosecutor’s Office”said Van Quickborne, who He also said he had personally apologized to the police. who view the images to protect their family. “I apologize to all the police officers who travel every day in a van like the one that was parked at my door,” added the head of Justice.