CHARLEROI — Someone hung a carnival mask representing a pig on the gate of the mosque at Marchienne-au-Pont on Saturday night, provoking the indignation of the local Muslim community, Le Soir reported on Monday. The act was carried out between 8pm and 11.45pm.
The mask was of a pig on which the words “go back home” were written in black marker. Alerted during Saturday-Sunday night by the president of the ASCL Turkish committee of Marchienne-au-Pont, the local police from Charleroi went to investigate. When the officers arrived some twenty worshippers, outraged by this provocative act, were at the scene. Film from a surveillance camera was taken. Officials of the mosque have filed a complaint with Charleroi police.
This is the second incident in less than a year at this place of worship. On July 25, individuals broke into the building and desecrated it. The act also recalls a similar event in April 2011, at the site of a future mosque in Lodelinsart. A real pig’s head had been left there and swastikas drawn. The investigation has never identified the perpetrators.
See also “Belgian Muslim body condemns desecration of mosque”, Kuwait News Agency, 20 February 2012