Can you become an alderman after being sentenced to prison? This question agitated the political community yesterday, following the appointment of Yassine Akki to the post of alderman in Molenbeek. Yassine Akki is not unknown in this town: he is the current president of the Port of Brussels and obtained more than 800 votes in the October elections, thus signing the 4th best score on the socialist list. His appointment as alderman therefore seemed entirely logical. Yet, Yassine Akki gave up this position yesterday, due to a controversy linked to his criminal record.
Indeed, Yassine Akki was convicted twice by the courts. In 1998, he received a 10-month suspended prison sentence for a burglary. But above all, in 2001, it was cconvicted of rape of a minor. The victim, a young woman over 16 years old, was attacked by Yassine Akki, then aged around twenty. This conviction also resulted in a suspended prison sentence. These two convictions appear in his criminal record.
Can you become an alderman after being sentenced to prison? This is a real question. From a legal point of view, the answer is yes. Yassine Akki was not sentenced to forfeiture of his civil rights, which allowed him to run for office. It is important to note that, in the case of a mayor, who exercises authority over the local police, a prior investigation by the public prosecutor’s office is required to assess the candidate’s suitability. But this rule does not apply to aldermen. Therefore, nothing legally prevented its designation.
But beyond legality, it is above all on the moral and political level that the question arises. Can a convicted person represent the municipality and its inhabitants? Can it exercise authority over municipal officials? These questions raise debates. On the one hand, there is the right to reintegration. Being judged, serving your sentence, paying a fine: these sanctions allow a person to return to a normal life. In the case of Yassine Akki,The alleged facts date back more than 20 years. Now aged around fifty, he seems to have taken another path. This is precisely the principle of justice: allowing people to pay for their faults while offering a chance of redemption. This is why it is better to talk about the right to reintegration rather than the right to be forgotten.
However, on the other hand, there is the demand for exemplary behavior from elected officials. Managing a budget or personnel implies a particular responsibility, and the political world is supposed to embody impeccable values. A conviction for rape, especially of a minor, is a particularly difficult stain to erase. In the era of #MeToo and out of respect for victims of sexual violence, entrusting a position of authority to an individual with such a past inevitably arouses protests.
Obviously, there is also a dimension of political politics in this controversy. Yassine Akki has been elected municipal councilor since 2012 and has already been a candidate in the regional elections. This was therefore his fourth candidacy, and his past convictions were well known. The newspaper’s recall of these facts The Last Hour yesterday morning looks like a political stunt, probably fueled by his opponents. Nevertheless, the facts are there, and so is the debate. This debate between probity and the right to reintegration is anything but simple. Depending on our sensitivities, the seriousness that we attribute to the facts or our vision of morality, everyone can have a different assessment of what we should expect from an elected official.
Yassine Akki, probably pushed by his party, decided to take a step aside. End of story this time. But this episode should encourage political parties to think seriously about their requirements of their candidates in terms of criminal records. If a party decides to present a candidate, it is not to abandon him at the first gust of wind. Finally, it should be remembered that the case of Yassine Akki is perhaps not so isolated. Thus, Sait Köse, convicted of financial fraud, was also recently elected in Schaerbeek. In democracy, what is not prohibited is permitted. It is a question of the rule of law. Whether the law allows someone to run for office is then up to the voters to judge.
Fabrice Grosfilley
