POTTER United Families

At this same proceedings, Louis gave an eloquent defense of free
journalism as a safeguard of the institutions of any representative
government: “The reporter is the representative of the
civilization of his/ her time. Citizens owe respect to institutions
in function of the evaluation of past events by this observer who
achieved a correct job, as reported by future analysis of
succeeding journalists. Elected members of an assembly
benefit from the trust of the population thanks to the work of
the reporters. If press freedom is eternal, as proclaimed by law,
I should not be sued for having said that badly intentioned
people want to place chains on it !”
Louis was fined one thousand florins and sentenced to eighteen
months in prison. This was a stiff sentence, which historian Bologne
thought represented "more a revenge than a justice condemnation."
The audience at court greeted the sentence with enormous boos and
catcalls; just as throughout the trial the Belgians had cheered Louis'
speeches warmly. As Louis was led out, the crowd outside cheered
their hero further and booed an escaping Van Maanen, Minister of
Justice, as explained by a British diplomat, Mr. Mackintosh:
Outside the demonstrators were mostly workers in the printing field,
who, outraged at Louis' sentence, threw stones at the house of the
Minister of Justice, breaking his windows.
Two things are significant: the distaste of the liberal bourgeoisie for
actual physical violence; the sympathy that the lower urban class was
developing for Louis. Both attitudes were prophetic of the actual
revolt twenty months later.
At the beginning of 1829, the Petits-Carmes prison had become a
virtual "Liberty encampment". Imprisoned there were Louis and his
friends Jottrand, Ducpetiaux, Pierre Claes and the printer Coche-
Mommens.
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