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Lawyers blast 'monster' label
01/03/2004 18:18 - (SA)
Brussels - Lawyers representing alleged Belgian child killer Marc Dutroux lashed out on Monday at the labelling of their client as a "monster", saying his presumption of innocence had been shredded.
In a seven-page written deposition, they also reaffirmed the suggestion that Dutroux - on trial for a string of abductions, rapes and murders of schoolgirls in 1996 - was part of a wider paedophile network.
"The jury is only being presented with selected slices of the case," they said as Dutroux finally went on trial in the southeastern town of Arlon, eight years after the gruesome crimes which convulsed Belgium.
They conceded that their role was extremely difficult "because, for public opinion, for the jury which embodies that public opinion, the case is already closed", they said.
"Is it not true that, without taking any precaution, without reservations, all those who have said or written - 'he is the killer' or 'he is the monster' have already made a judgment?" they added.
Dutroux, a 47-year-old former electrician, is on trial for the abduction and rape of six schoolgirls, four of whom died.
Held captive in 'dungeon'
The case has revived the shock felt by Belgians eight years ago - fuelled notably by suggestions that Dutroux and his three co-defendants were part of a wider paedophile ring also implicating politicians, judges and police.
The lawyers hinted at this again Monday, noting for example that police probes had found traces of hair from "a least two or three unknown people" in the dungeon-like underground hole where Dutroux's victims were held captive.
"Can people make you believe that there wasn't a paedophile ring? Would we be the only country in the world where paedophiles were isolated perverts?" they asked.
Dutroux himself fuelled the conspiracy theories on the eve of his trial.
"People want to believe that I am at the centre of everything. They are mistaken," he was quoted as saying.
"I did things of which I was not the driving force. I was used as an instrument by others, who were themselves used as instruments by others," he added.
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