Media frenzy in Dutroux trial
2004-03-02 12:19
Arlon - Belgian prosecutors have presented a 56-page charge sheet at the trial of Marc Dutroux detailing how, in their words, the child rapist lured six girls into terrifying ordeals that ended with the deaths of four of them.
On the second day of what has been dubbed Belgium's "trial of the century", the court in Arlon was to hear for the first time a chronology of the horrific events that led up to the convicted rapist's arrest in August 1996.
The first day of the long-awaited trial was given over to jury selection. It received blanket coverage in the Belgian media and worldwide interest from hundreds of journalists who have descended on this small border town.
Several Belgian newspapers devoted their front pages to a court artist's depiction of the 47-year-old Dutroux, flanked by police officers behind bullet-proof glass, slumped with his head on his arms apparently asleep.
La Libre Belgique, a national daily, said the seeming indifference of the "monster of Charleroi" was "shocking", and described Dutroux as a "diva" who had refused to let his photograph be taken at the start of court proceedings.
La Derniere Heure, a tabloid, contrasted the picture of Dutroux with a photograph of a weeping Betty Marchal, the mother of 17-year-old An, whose body was one of four unearthed from the gardens of properties belonging to Dutroux.
The jobless electrician was to be formally charged on Tuesday with the abduction, rape and murders of An and her 19-year-old friend Eefje Lambrecks, and with the murder of a French accomplice, Bernard Weinstein.
Two eight-year-old girls, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, allegedly starved to death while held captive by Dutroux.
Two other girls, Sabine Dardenne (then aged 12) and Laetitia Delhez (14) were rescued from the cellar of another house belonging to Dutroux after allegedly being raped, beaten and half-starved.
An impassive Dutroux, speaking in a flat voice via a microphone, addressed the court Monday only to confirm his name, his occupation - or lack of one - and domicile - Arlon prison.
Dutroux admits kidnapping and rape but denies murder. He faces life in jail if convicted at the end of the trial, which is expected to last at least two months.
Belgian police, who have already let Dutroux escape once, suffered fresh embarrassment when the van taking him from court drove off at the end of Monday's hearings with a back door open.
Dutroux is standing trial alongside three other people including his estranged wife, who all face charges of kidnapping and complicity in the crimes.
One of the suspects, Michel Nihoul, 62, is suspected by many Belgians as being Dutroux's link to a much bigger child-sex gang.
But prosecutors say nearly eight years of investigations have failed to dig up evidence of a high-ranking protection network that helped Dutroux and his accomplices evade justice before he was finally arrested in the summer of 1996.