Dutroux: Lawyers want life
2004-06-21 12:58
Arlon - Belgian prosecutors on Monday called for paedophile Marc Dutroux to be given a life sentence after he was found guilty of the kidnapping and rape of six young girls, four of whom died.
Dutroux's crimes "merit the heaviest sentence, life", prosecutor Michel Bourlet told the court in Arlon, eastern Belgium. The court is expected to announce sentences against Dutroux and his three co-defendants on Tuesday or Wednesday.
After a harrowing three months of hearings dubbed Belgium's "trial of the century", the 47-year-old was found guilty of murder, rape and kidnapping last week over a string of crimes which shocked Belgium in the mid-1990s.
Many Belgians remain disturbed by Dutroux's claim that he was not the "lone predator" portrayed by the prosecution, but the courier for a paedophile network run by Michel Nihoul.
The jury in the Dutroux trial Thursday acquitted Nihoul of any involvement in the abductions of the six girls.
- AFP