Belgian courts 'silent' over Tintin race row
2nd September 2009
The Belgian justice system has not yet responded to legal action alleging the comic Tintin In The Congo is derogatory to black people.
Tintin, an ageless comic book detective, is the creation of Herge and is widely considered one of Belgium's national symbols.
Herge is the pen name for the comic artist George Remi, who has his own dedicated Herge Museum in Louvain-le-Neuve.
Legal action was instigated two years ago by Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo against Tintin's publishers Moulinsart, reports the Daily Telegraph.
The legal claim is for a symbolic euro 1 in damages.
However, Mr Mondondo's lawyer Claude Ndjakanyi told the newspaper that they have yet to receive a response to their claim.
'Our request to access the dossier was judged premature even though the investigation has been running for two years,' he claimed.
Mr Mondondo recently told France's Le Figaro that he was prepared to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.