The scandals around the Belgian cemetery in Vorst are piling up

frost - To throw skulls, sell racist talk, daily lavish food parties and even signs of necrophilia. Through a judgment of the Council of State, new details become known about the scandal in the Vorst cemetery. At the end of 2016, three municipal employees were fired there. Because of a 'barbecue in the cemetery' and alleged 'sexual games', it was then. But the real reasons for their dismissal seem even crazier than expected.

At the end of 2016 it became known that four municipal workers and a gardener working in the Vorst cemetery had been put on hold. The company had- during working hours- organized a barbecue in the cemetery, next to the graves. In addition, there were ridiculous photos surfaced in La Dernière Heure by one of the workers with a human skull in their hand. On another picture you can see how the three employees are in a sexually suggestive position on a gravestone.

The scandal came to light after a new colleague had complained about the practices in the cemetery. After he had come a few times late and had frequently reported sick, he had to come and defend himself before the mayor and aldermen. That is where the truth came to light. 'I first tried to integrate myself into the group, but I really do not want to have anything to do with it anymore. This is simply not possible ', it sounded then. As proof of the abuses, he had some photos with him, reports Het Nieuwsblad.

Eventually, three of the five workmen involved were fired. One of them, the then chief of the cemetery, fought his resignation at the Council of State. However, he was unsuccessful and the judgment, which was published on Wednesday, also shows why: the malpractice turned out to be much more than initially thought.

For example, the chief threw a skull at the new employee and asked him 20 euros 'in exchange for a moment alone' with a body: 'Do it, we have already passed. 'In addition, people drank hard every day, as one of the employees involved admitted. Often this happened before noon: beer in bad weather, pastis when the sun was shining. Often the grave diggers were already drunk for 14 hours.

In his defense, the man did not deny regular drinking alcohol in the cemetery. After all, at funerals it would be 'tradition' that the grave diggers drink a glass of gin or rum for the service. Moreover, his superiors had never, in his own words, considered him 'incapable of being drunk'. He did not dispute the barbecue either, but he did think he could not be held responsible for it because 'he who did not organize and he took place on a deserted corner of the cemetery'.

On the necrophilic statements he said again that dark humor was the only way to deal with his emotionally heavy profession. He dismissed the incident with the skull as an accident.

The Council of State considered it proved that the man drank a lot and often at work and that he disrespectfully dealt with mortal remains. The barbecue also testified according to the judgment of little professionalism. The Council then called the necrophilic statements 'fanciful and extremely disrespectful. '

According to the Council, regardless of the 18 years of service, the dismissal was justified. In addition, the man has to pay 700 euros in damages and 200 euros in costs.

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