Doomsday preppers sentenced to up to 5 years for planning armed resistance

The Antwerp criminal court on Tuesday sentenced two doomsday preppers to up to five years in prison for planning armed resistance against the Belgian government. 

The two men were arrested during a series of raids on 28 September 2022 and had amassed a huge arsenal of weapons. The alleged leader of the group, Yannick V, was killed in a raid on his home in the Merksem district of Antwerp that resulted in a shootout.

On Tuesday, a judge found that Igor G and Marc D were part of a terrorist group that was planning armed resistance against the government. Igor G was sentenced to five years in prison with one year suspended, while Marc D. was sentenced to four years with two years suspended.

The group was preparing for the collapse of society by stockpiling large quantities of survival rations, weapons and ammunition

A third defendant, Paul O, was acquitted of the most serious charges but received an 18-month suspended sentence for violating the Weapons Act. Two other defendants, charged only with weapons violations, were given suspended sentences of six and 10 months. 

The group was preparing for the collapse of society by stockpiling large quantities of survival rations, weapons and ammunition. According to the investigation, they intended to engage in armed combat without having set a clear target or timing.

The investigation was opened in July 2022, after state security intelligence revealed that Yannick V adhered to a far-right and facist ideology and had long harboured plans for an armed struggle against the government. 

^{#FlandersNewsService | A police officer at the scene in Merksem, Antwerp, on 28 September 2022, after a police raid led to the fatal shooting of Yannick V © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS}