Pedophile rapist and murderer Marc Dutroux was sentenced to life behind bars on Tuesday at the end of a harrowing trial that delved into one of the darkest chapters in Belgium's history.
Dutroux's ex-wife was given 30 years for her role in the shocking abduction and rape of six girls in the mid-1990s, four of whom died. An accomplice was jailed for 25 years and a fourth defendant for five.
PHOTO: AP
"Marc Dutroux, you have been condemned to the maximum sentence," presiding judge Stephane Goux said at the close of nearly four months of hearings, dubbed Belgium's "trial of the century."
"I think that you are still facing a better fate than most of your victims, who are no longer in the world of the living," Goux said.
Sabine Dardenne, one of two girls who were rescued from a cellar where Dutroux submitted his victims to sexual abuse, was said to be "delighted."
"A good piece of justice has finally been done," said her lawyer, Celine Parisse.
Dutroux's lawyer, Xavier Magnee, said his client plans to appeal the sentence.
"Marc Dutroux will exercise his right to an appeal," said Magnee, who described the verdict as "inevitable."
Dutroux, 47, had once again protested his innocence in a last session of pleading before the sentences were pronounced, but was slapped down by Goux.
"Marc Dutroux, the verdict is clear," the judge, visibly agitated, said after a 10-minute intervention by Dutroux, who nevertheless vowed to battle to the "end of his days" to prove his innocence.
Goux handed down the sentences in an emotionless voice to a hushed courtroom at the end of a lengthy summation of a series of crimes that traumatized Belgium and shocked the world.
For Dutroux, dubbed by the press "Belgium's most hated man," life will most likely mean life without prospect of parole.
But for his ex-wife, Michelle Martin, 44, and his 33-year-old "faithful companion" Michel Lelievre, their respective terms of 30 and 25 years could in theory be cut short with good behavior.
The fourth defendant, Michel Nihoul, 63, was jailed for five years for drug-dealing and fraud. But he was acquitted last week of all charges of complicity in the abductions.
Dutroux argued all along that he was the fall guy for a pedophile gang led by Nihoul -- a view shared by most Belgians, surveys suggest.
For Jean-Denis Lejeune, whose daughter Julie was one of two eight-year-old girls who starved to death while imprisoned by Dutroux, the sentences brought little solace.
Noting that he could meet Martin and Lelievre in the streets if they are released early, he said: "These people, even so, kidnapped children, tortured them and left them to starve.
"It leaves me with a bad taste in the mouth," Lejeune said.
The acquittal of Nihoul on the charge of complicity in the kidnappings fueled questions of whether the trial uncovered the full truth behind whether Dutroux -- as he claimed -- was merely the courier for a pedophile gang.
It did, however, revive memories of police and judicial bungling that in late 1996 saw more than 300,000 people take to the streets of Brussels in silent protest.
During the pre-sentencing hearing, Martin reiterated her "profound regrets and profound remorse."
Lelievre had said: "Whatever the sentence, I will accept it."
Nihoul had appealed for the "greatest clemency" from the court.
Dutroux was found guilty last Thursday of murdering two teenaged girls and an accomplice, as well as of abducting and raping the six girls.
But in one of the most harrowing aspects of the case, the prosecution said it had been unable to determine precisely when Julie Lejeune and her friend Melissa Russo died their agonizing deaths in the darkness of Dutroux's dungeon.
Dutroux claimed that his ex-wife failed to feed them but no one was ever charged with the murder of the children.
"We are at the end of one stage. Unfortunately, nothing has been resolved," Jean-Denis Lejeune said.
"Having to live with all these uncertainties and these grey areas means that life will remain disturbed as long as we don't know what really happened," he said.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS