Advisory opinion as to whether an individual may be denied authorisation to work as a security guard or officer on account of being close to or belonging to a religious movement [2023] ECHR Request no. P16-2023-001 was a request from the Belgian Conseil d’Etat/Raad van State for an Opinion under Protocol No. 16 to the ECHR.

Background

SB was a guard with Securail, the organisation responsible for the security of the Belgian railway infrastructure and its users. He was employed as a security officer in the control room located at Bruxelles-Midi railway station [14]. As a precondition of employment, he held an identification card, expiring on 18 June 2024, issued by the Minister of the Interior at the request of his employer, which entitled him to continue working as a security guard [15].

In March 2020, the State Security Service informed the Ministry of the Interior that SB was known to the intelligence services on account of his contacts with several individuals of the “scientific Salafist “orientation and

“According to our assessment [SB] is a supporter of this ideology. Supported by a majority of Salafists, the ‘scientific’ branch considers preaching to be the main instrument for spreading its ideology, and eschews political intervention and violence as means of action. Most of the proselytising carried out within scientific Salafism therefore takes the form of teaching activities, the production of teaching aids about Islam or the dissemination of sermons” [18].

As a result of that report, his ID card was withdrawn [19-24]. Continue reading →