Ok, so the big Belgian “trial of the century” has started in Arlon. In case you don’t know about this case, it sounds like a mess.
Overviews here and some more here.
Wowzers. Ok, so the pedophila and murder charges are horrifying and disturbing enough, but since I’m currently a poor confused foreigner living in Ghent I’m also seeing a bit of the public’s take on the other side. Like, for example, the magazine “Deng” today has a big photo of the charming couple on the cover with (and I translate very directly) “FUCK THE DUTROUX TRIAL.” So I guess I’m just asking for some more detail about the scandals than I can find in the English-language press, especially from Belgians and other Europeans who’ve been more on top of this thing. What’s going on? What does the man-on-the-street think of all this? I’ve heard only little bits about conspiracy theories-- I’d like more detail on this. I feel like there are deep levels to this that I don’t have access to. Any opinions from Belgian dopers?
Basically, the Belgian cops dropped the ball so often, you’d think they were dribbling it. Senior cops & high officials took part in a party/orgy this guy thyrew, with child prostitutes as the entertainment. The Powers That Be sunk the career of the judge that blew the lid off this, presumably to teach him a lesson, only they were the ones who got “schooled”. When Dutroux’s own Mother wrote to the cops, in the hopes they’d stop her monster offspring, they “lost her letter”. :rolleyes:
Total trainwreck in Belgium, pal. High-ranking heads are rolling as we speak, with more to come.
If Europe had a death penalty, or at least a life sentance that meant life, not 15 years, this guy would have been out of circulation years ago.
Dutroux could go his ‘merry’ ways for so long, because at that time, there was a war of the cops going on in Belgium. The Rijkswacht (compare with State Troopers) wouldn’t share any information with the Police, who wouldn’t share with the Gerechtelijke Politie (compare loosely with FBI). The real drama in this case is that the different police forces had al the info they needed for a quick resolve of the case.
Each force vied with the others for prestige and funds, and instead of coöperating, there was even sabotage of the others. One of the outcomes of this case is a big reform of the police (1 force) and the justice system. This is not the first debacle for Belgium, but it had a very strong impact on our society because there were children involved. The incompetence of the police was later verified, because 2 years later, Dutroux was able to escape, and hide in the woods for a couple of hours. The number 1 enemy of the state was able to run away in a non-prepared escape. There are several things that anger the public. The incompetence of the police to catch an amateur kidnapper, the incompetence of the justice system to trial him after a fair time.
The biggest effect the Dutroux trial had on my life is the public opinion that has changed.
Since Dutroux we now have some kind of Belgian Inquisition.
The governement has created free telephonenumbers where people can report child-abuse.
Guess what.
Every man who dares to cuddle his kid in public is now looked at as a pedophile.
And how a better way to hurt your husband who you wish to divorce then to accuse him as pedophile. Ofcourse you are exculpated in court but… for the biased public you are guilty for life. Better move aboad.
After the trial we had some kind of a “white movement”. That white movement was a group that had been bring to life by the parents of the missing and/or urdered children here in Belgium. They organised marches, protests and even started a small political party. One of the pioneers of that white movement, a father of a missing child, has later been found guilty of killing his own child.
Really??? I missed that one. Who are you talking about ?
I think the main reason for the public outrage is what is described as “war” among both the police and the judiciary and the suggestion that Dutroux was only a member of a whole network from which was suggested that it had politicians, police, judges (some even said the king himself) involved. Thus Dutroux was seen (and still is regarded) as being protected by the “higher up”. (The way some replacements of researchers were handled only put oil on that fire).
The main reason why it took so long for the Belgian justice to come finally to this trial, was because there were so many trails that needed to be explored/followed in order to avoid being accused again of the above described incompetence.
It is interesting to follow the trial and I think most Belgians follow it rather closely. The main reason being once again the suspicion that “The Truth” shall be conceiled once again or prevented from breing brought in the open.
The fact that this particular trial gains such a large international press, is merely because the capture of Dutroux already gained the international press attention.
I would say that both of this is caused by the fact that Belgium has with Brussels the capital of the EU and thus of course houses a vast number of international correspondents.
Because of this role in the EU - housing the capital - Belgium sees itself always pictured in the international press when something abnormal happens, while such things happen everywhere on this globe. And even much worse.
I remember that the same international publicity happend a few years ago with the “chicken crisis”.
Belgians had eaten those possible-endangered-to-become-“sick” chickens already long before it came out they were considered to have been in such a risk. The meat that possibly could have been affected by this chicken disease was already long consumed before the Ministry of Health became even informed about this possible danger. Yet the EU made a big deal out of it and the international press made a deal out of it accordingly.
Even in my country my friends joked about it, asking with a big smile f I “survived” my visit to my late mother’s country, and if I yes or no avoided to eat chicken.
And yes, the Belgian chocolate is the best in the world. They say the beer is the best also. I can testify this not by drinking it myself, but by watching friends get drunk, counting on me to bring them safely home
Salaam. A
So, would it be fair to say that Belgium’ers are child molesting, orgy-going, co-conspiring, murders who hide the truth? You know, Aldy, kinda like how a judge in Alabama with his 10 commandments makes US’ers religious fanatics, or an idiot in the White House starting a war in Iraq makes US’ers fanatical, pro-war, child killers? Just so I know the groundrules.
European Law prohibits the death penalty and life sentences without a tariff.
Of course, that only applies to Newspeak Europe, i.e. The European Union…
Though there are few doubts that the police and justice system meesed up in the Dutroux case, it seems to me you’re buying in the “conspiracy” in this post. there’s no evidences that there were orgies involving any official (or even any orgy at all), thought accusations have been flying all over the place (sometimes from the accused themselves). Even the royal family has occasionnally been mentionned. But once again, no evidences of the validity of such accusations have been found . The suposed high-ranking official involved in a large-scale pedophile network are yet to be found.
I don’t buy the networking theory, with the hidden powers that protect Dutroux. It’s an easy escape route for the police and legal system. We didn’t find him and didn’t trial him in time because we are incompentent and not because of the secret support of the highest powers in Belgium (Royalty, Church and politics).
The EU is an economic union and is not empowered to decide on penal law.
You are confusing the EU with the European Convention on Human Rights, which does prohibit the death penalty and offers other guarantees, but only if your country has signed the appropriate protocol to it. IIRC the UK still did have the death penalty at the time they signed the ECHR.
The difference is significant since lots of non-EU nation have signed the ECHR.
I didn’t know that, but it if is, such a prerequisite would be a political affair. As far as I know there is no legal rule of EU-law that says you should abolish it.
And furthermore the claim was the opposite: the poster stated that only EU members would be prohibited from having the death penalty, which is manifestlly wrong.
Are there any non-EU/non prospective-EU states in Europe that have signed up?
Apart from Norway, which used to be in the EU and being a Scandinavian country wouldn’t execute anybody anyway…
Andorra? Leichtenstein? Vatican City? Sealand?
