Blood, Soil, Honor & Loyalty Cell (Nazi Entity, Belgium)

The Blood, Soil, Honor and Loyalty Network [BBET; Bloed, Bodem, Eer en Trouw] was a small national-socialist militant organization active in Dutch-speaking Belgium.¹ It sought to overthrow the government and install a national-socialist regime in the country. BBET members wanted to destabilize Belgium by creating ethnic conflict.²

The BBET had about two dozen members. At least ten of these cadres served in the Belgian army.³ The group furthermore had up to 100 supporters.⁴ Although the BBET was active throughout the country, most of the network’s senior members came from the province of Oost-Vlaanderen. The BBET actively disseminated national-socialist propaganda leaflets and videos.⁵ It also maintained a website and published a magazine.⁶ Some of the group’s cadres were involved in Holocaust denial and organized a few meetings on the subject.⁷

Tomas Boutens headed the BBET. He organized the group’s activities, oversaw recruitment and maintained international connections.⁸ Mark Horemans served as the BBET’s ideologue.⁹ Another influential member was Jouri Van de Plas. The former senior member of the Flemish branch of Blood and Honor introduced the network to the anabolics trade.¹⁰

The BBET emerged from a splinter group of the Belgian branches of Blood and Honor. In the early 2000s, these elements had begun organizing their own meetings commemorating Adolf Hitler and discussing the Holocaust. By 2004, they had become more radical in their views and envisioned violent means to achieve their goals.¹¹ Boutens and his associates started recruiting like-minded people. They also began training for action. BBET members organized martial arts training, shooting sessions and survivals.¹² Police infiltrated the network in 2005 after the Belgian authorities had learned of these activities.¹³ To fund their activities, BBET members depended on crime. Most of the income was derived through the illicit trade in anabolics in Belgium and the Netherlands.¹⁴ Another source of funding was the traffic in illegal weapons.¹⁵

On Sep. 04, 2006, Belgian security forces raided eighteen premises linked to the BBET throughout the country.¹⁶ Searches were also conducted at a number of military bases. Seventeen BBET operatives, including Boutens and other senior members, were arrested in the operations.¹⁷ Police also seized weapons, a bomb and explosives during the raids. Subsequent investigations revealed that the BBET was actively preparing to launch attacks, although no concrete plans had been made.¹⁸ Rumors that the militants were planning to assassinate influential political figures in Belgium were denied by the authorities.¹⁹

In December 2008, prosecutors charged 21 people for their involvement in the BBET’s militant activities.²⁰ The trial against the network’s members was marred by postponements.²¹ In 2013, trial proceedings had to start anew since too much time had already passed by.²² In February 2014, a court convicted most of the defendants.²³ Network leader Boutens was sentenced to five years in prison. Other members of the outfit were given shorter prison terms or fines.²⁴

Throughout its existence, BBET members maintained close contacts with members of the Belgian and Dutch branches of Blood and Honor and Combat 18.²⁵ The group was also linked to the Netherlands-based National Alliance [NA; Nationale Alliantie] and People’s Party [VP; Volkspartij].²⁶