Over the course of the pandemic, letters containing death threats were sent to the Ministry of State, the Health Directorate, the National Health Fund (CNS), as well as RTL. Among other things, the author announced he would carry out attacks on vaccination centres. Furthermore, the letters contained some form of brown powder.
On Wednesday, the author of the letters was forced to appear in court after having spent the last three months in investigative custody. The man, who has been living in Luxembourg for the past ten years and has an 8-year-old daughter, had no previous criminal record.
In July 2021, the Ministry of State, the Health Directorate, and CNS received the initial letters. The author criticised the Covid measures and threatened to attack vaccination centres. Two of the letters contained a brown powder, which triggered a major investigation. However, as it turned out, it was only pepper.
On 8 December 2021, the man then sent the next letters to RTL’s editorial office, although they were addressed at Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Minister of Health Paulette Lenert. The author explicitly threatened the PM’s husband and the Health Minister’s children.
This was one of the more gruesome messages: “MRS PAULETTE LENERT, I will be direct with you, IF YOU TOUCH MY CHILDREN, I WILL TOUCH YOURS. ... I ALREADY PICTURE THEIR DECAPITATED BODIES THAT I WILL THROW INTO THE MOSELLE RIVER.”
Investigators were eventually able to identify the author due to distinctive grammatical features, which they were able to compare with threats made on Facebook in August 2021, before the second letters were sent. Both the writing style and comments were identical.
Investigators conducted a search of the Facebook profile and found the man’s phone number. His identity was confirmed soon after, which allowed police to arrest him on 9 December, only one day after the second letters reached their destination.
In court, the 37-year-old bus driver was guarded and spent the majority of the time looking at the floor. He relied on a translator throughout the trial.
The defendant immediately admitted to being the author of the letters. He said he had been extremely frustrated with restrictions at the time, and that he wrote the letters during “a moment of weakness”. He described the act itself as “moronic”.
The judge countered the defendant’s statement by noting that he sent more than one letter and that he had previously conducted research on both the PM and the Health Minister, which shows that the act was premeditated.
Confronted with the question of what he had expected to be the outcome, the defendant was not able to provide justification, but acknowledged the following: “I am scaring myself.”
The prosecution argued that in the context of the violent protests in Luxembourg City at the beginning of December 2021, during which people also gathered outside of PM Bettel’s home, the letters had to be taken very seriously. The prosecution thus demanded a suspended two-year prison sentence and a monetary fine for the defendant.
The verdict will be announced on 16 June.
