Press share 'sex gang' doubts
2004-06-18 13:46
Brussels - The conviction of paedophile Marc Dutroux on multiple charges of murder, rape and kidnapping leaves open the question whether he was part of a shadowy child-sex gang, Belgian newspapers said on Friday.
"The jury shared the doubts of the people," ran a headline in Le Soir which, like other papers, pushed out almost all other news to report the verdicts announced against Dutroux and three co-defendants after a harrowing three-and-a-half-month trial on Thursday.
Several papers agreed that the acquittal of 63-year-old conman Michel Nihoul on charges of helping to abduct six girls failed to remove the suspicion that the children were victims of what Le Soir called "a vast network of powerful people".
The three trial judges ordered the 12 jurors to reconsider their verdict after they split seven-five on Nihoul's guilt.
"Nihoul gets off" was the headline in La Derniere Heure, which invited its readers "to give your opinion on the verdict" in a special edition devoted to the trial.
The paper's editorialist described the judges' instructions as "a slap in the face of the jury" and complained that it had made "a mess" of the trial.
Seven jurors said they believed Dutroux's allegation that he was the courier for a paedophile network run by Nihoul, while the five others voted to acquit Nihoul, accepting his claim that Dutroux was "a lone predator".
The Flemish-language daily Standaard said that by forcing the jury to come down on one side or the other, the judges had produced a result that was "stranger than fiction".
But the daily Libre Belgique disagreed, saying the verdict was clear and unambiguous while "the manner in which it was reached respected the law on all points."