Molenbeek legal claim against Katie Hopkins rejected

A complaint for defamation brought by Molenbeek town council against the British columnist and pundit Katie Hopkins has been thrown out, RTBF reports.

The municipality, led by mayor Françoise Schepmans, began legal action in May after Hopkins filmed a report for conservative US platform The Rebel Media, in which she visited Molenbeek wearing a burqa. She also appeared on Fox News, where she descibed Molenbeek as the "jihad capital" of Europe.

Molenbeek council was seeking the removal of the video and the payment of a symbolic €1 in damages. The Belgian public prosecutor has examined the case and ruled that no further action should be taken. The claim was "quickly dismissed", RTBF adds.

Hopkins' report from Molenbeek has been viewed almost 400,000 times on YouTube. In a second video, viewed 55,000 times, she interviews Schepmans about Salah Abdeslam and his radicalisation.