Belgium’s top virologist in hiding from far-right soldier says people ‘waging bets on when he will murder me’

Facebook group set up in support of armed fugitive accumulated 50,000 members before being shut down

Marc Van Ranst is in hiding with his family (AFP/Getty)

Belgium’s top virologist, who has been forced into hiding by an armed far-right soldier thought to be hunting him, is reported to be even more concerned by the man’s newfound supporters.

Shooting instructor Jurgen Conings disappeared from his barracks on 17 May allegedly armed with stolen anti-tank rocket launchers and a range of guns, having expressed a desire to kill Professor Marc van Ranst in letters left for his wife and the police which railed against coronavirus restrictions and the political leaders imposing them.

Prof Van Ranst and his family were moved into hiding the following day – but not before the trained killer turned up outside his home.

“The ex-soldier, heavily armed, was on my street for three hours, right in front of my house, waiting for me to arrive home from work,” the virologist told the BBC from his top-secret safe house nearly three weeks later, adding that he had luckily returned home from work earlier than usual that day.

“Unfortunately, he’s a trained sniper with heavy armour, military-grade material and weapons. So, these are the kind of people that you would prefer not to have hunting you.”

But despite urgent efforts to capture Mr Conings now involving four different nations, with Dutch, German and Luxembourger troops having offered their support to a hundreds-strong search effort, the rogue corporal has also attracted a significant number of apparent supporters.

One group created in support of Mr Conings on Facebook, called “As one behind Jurgen”, is reported to have attracted 50,000 members before it was shut down.

Some sympathisers have moved to the encrypted messaging app Telegram – where Prof Van Ranst decided to join a group of the same name last week and confront its more than 1,000 members.

“I thought I’d come and scout around to see what creativity bubbles up here,” Prof Van Ranst is reported by local media to have written. “I have to say, I’m disappointed.”

“And a lot of spelling mistakes!!!” he added in a further message, concluding: “No standards, but then again, what did we expect from a group of terrorist supporters.”

He later told the BBC: “These are real people, who really think this man is a hero and that I deserve to die.

“They are people, living in your neighbourhood, who wage bets on exactly when and with how many bullets he will murder me.”

Those supporting the armed fugitive appear to share his anger over lockdown restrictions and the public figures associated with them.

“If you're on television a couple of times every day for months on end, people get sick and tired of you. That's unavoidable,” Prof Van Ranst said. “There are a group of people that hate science and hate scientists. Very often they are scared and uncertain.”

Mr Conings also appears to have found some favour in the northern region of Flanders. After it emerged that Mr Conings was a member of the far-right Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang, its president Tom van Grieken drew criticism for failing to condemn his actions strongly enough.

Despite saying violence is always wrong, Mr van Grieken claimed many voters “support his opposition to the system”.

“People are ruled by the losers of elections and by figures they have not been able to choose,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws, referencing Prof Van Ranst and health minister Frank Vandenbroucke by name.

“Our political elite is so cowardly that it has its policy explained by virologists. The opposition's opinion is barely mentioned in newspapers, and people with a different view are censored on social media. The people are led by leaders they do not want and they are no longer allowed to speak their mind. That is a very dangerous combination.”

With the soldier’s letters suggesting Prof Van Ranst may not be the only target he has in mind, security has been increased in a number of places since his disappearance.

At least 10 people are receiving police protection, including public health officials, the national broadcaster VRT reported on Monday, adding that there was talk of extending police support to several mosques in Limburg.

Meanwhile, Mr Conings remains elusive, despite a search party comprising soldiers, police and sniffer dog teams having descended upon the Hoge Kempen National Park in Limburg, near the Netherlands border. Residents are reported to have heard gunshots and a car believed to have been abandoned by Mr Congings was discovered, containing four rocket launchers.

Vice reported a Belgian police official as saying that Mr Conings’ ability to operate under great stress as well as carefully plan missions now poses the greatest concern.

“Maybe he’s very good at hiding and is in the woods but there’s nothing after a week,” they said.

“But it looks more like this was a decoy for him to escape the area and if that’s the case it means he planned this, but to what end? We are now concerned that this has all been carefully orchestrated for a reason and he plans to act violently.”

Speaking from his police safe house, Prof Van Ranst said: “I think you can hide pretty much forever if you really want to. There are many ways to disappear, especially if you leave the country.”