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Belgian radio in dock over Williams’ monkey jibe

BRUSSELS: A complaint of racism has been lodged with public prosecutors after a private Flemish radio station Q-Music allegedly described tennis sisters Venus and Serena Williams as monkeys.

The comments are reported to have been made after the American sisters ousted Belgian duo Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters in the singles semi-finals at the Australian Open this week. Belgian listener, Pierre Van Doorne, who is of Martinique origin, lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor in the northern city of Antwerp accusing the station of inciting racial hatred.

Van Doorne complained that the station’s two presentors used racist terms and then allowed listeners to have their say, of which some were similarly racist against the tennis stars. “As a coloured man, I feel personally insulted with the words of the two presenters but I also believe they incited listeners to expressions of racial hatred,” Van Doorne told Belga news agency.

The Belgian equal opportunities centre told AFP Friday that they had received a copy of the complaint and were considering whether to take legal action against the station. A presentor of Belgian’s top private radio station Radio Contact was fired last July for saying that Henin, who was defeated in the Wimbledon final by Serena Williams, had been beaten by a monkey. —AFP

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