‘This Documentary Should Hit Bart De Pauw Hard’: Journalist Ellen Bergmans on ‘The Process Nobody Wanted’

What did you think was the most prominent passage in Operation no one wants?

Eileen Bergmans: “It’s hard to pick one paragraph, but after these eight testimonies the impact of this issue on women’s lives becomes clear. When Maaike Cafmeyer says her family is broken, the viewer can almost feel her pain. At one point, Lize Feryn reads the letters that people write It’s disgusting and cowardly and they’ll never see a series appear in it. So a message pops up that people put in her mailbox, which reads in fluorescent pink letters: “9 Syoton, 9 little kids.” Or Ella-June Henrard, who was wearing overalls, tells that Since the De Pauw affair, she has never worn feminine clothes to go to the set. It all shows how deeply De Pauw’s behavior affects them.”

This documentary series was kept secret until the last minute. What do you think of the logic or strategy behind it?

“Women have been through a lot in recent years and want to take their story into their own hands again. In the three-part documentary, all the women—including those who have not been convicted of De Pauw—are given plenty of time to tell what happened in their eyes. They wanted Really in control of themselves, so journalists who could see the documentary beforehand had to sign a nondisclosure agreement, and Woestijnvis wanted to read what we were going to write beforehand.

The women’s testimonies also show their fear of the mainstream media. “I found it very frightening to hear journalists banging on after me at the trial,” Ella John Hannard said in the documentary. “But at some point you have to give up on that and hope the press will also see the game Bart de Pauw is trying to play.”

Do you still have burning questions after watching the documentary?

“At the trial, the case was discussed in great detail and in the documentary the women detail how they went through everything. I don’t think there are many questions left, but one day I would like to have a frank and honest conversation with Bart de Pauw about how he views this now. .”

Has De Pauw responded yet?

I called his lawyer, but they didn’t answer. When Bart de Pauw announced earlier this month that he would not appeal, he wrote in a press release that he considered peace now more important than the legal battle. Perhaps he does not want to replace the legal battle with an information war. But there’s no doubt that this documentary should make a huge impact on De Pauw. We must not forget that he was also acquitted eight times and that the women in the documentary can have a wide say.”