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SUMMARY

THE CREDIBILITY OF JUSTICE
Marc Reisinger


De Morgen, 7 January 1997
DUTROUX AND NIHOUL SUSPECTED OF THE MURDER OF CHRISTINE VAN HEES IN 1984
By Annemie Bulté and Douglas De Coninck


De Morgen, 8 January 1998
THE GIRL WHO GAVE BIRTH IN SECRET
by Annemie Bulté and Douglas de Coninck


De Morgen, 8 January 1998
THIRTEEN SEARCHES PLANNED ON 23 DECEMBER 1996
by Annemie Bulté and Douglas de Coninck


De Morgen, 8 January 1998
A RE-EXAMINATION WITH MORE FAULTS THAN THE HEARINGS
by Annemie Bulté and Douglas Coninck


De Morgen, 9 January 1998
VAN ESPEN REMOVED FROM THE CHAMPIGNONNIÈRE CASE
by Douglas de Coninck


De Morgen, 10 January 1998
INTERVIEW WITH REGINA LOUF, WITNESS XI AT NEUFCHATEAU
by Annemie Bulté and Douglas de Coninck


 


De Morgen, 8 January 1998
THIRTEEN SEARCHES PLANNED ON 23 DECEMBER 1996
by Annemie Bulté and Douglas de Coninck

 

On 23 December, the Neufchâteau unit of the Gendarmerie had planned a series of thirteen searches around the country. The plan was never carried out, and afterwards it was deplored. Contrary to the rumours circulating at the time in police and judicial circles, it was never a question of arrests in "high places". The aim of the operation was to check some of the facts in the testimony of XI and to chase up some of the suspects in the case of the murder of Christine Van Hees.

XI claims that when she was fourteen years old, she gave birth to a child which was killed "for pleasure" by members of a network. XI has named people who knew her before and can testify to the fleeting existence (five months) of the baby: neighbours or other people who must have seen the child. She predicted, however, that "these people will certainly not want to talk". Thanks to a nation-wide blitz raid, the investigators hoped to shed light on the matter. They hoped that at least one person would talk. Interviews with former friends of XI had already shown that she had been through dreadful experiences. In the area where she spent her childhood, very few people seemed willing to collaborate with inquiries. To the extent that the investigators from the 3rd Criminal Research Section clashed with the local police (in Knokke, ed.).

In December 1996, when the Neufchâteau public prosecutor’s department began searches in the former coal-mine in Jumet and raided the Abrasax Satanic sect, amid intense media coverage, it seemed to many observers that the investigation was completely off-track. So this was the spectacular operation that was supposed to sew panic in the corridors of power?

The loss of prestige of the Neufchâteau investigation was not to remain without consequence, and contributed to the discrediting of the 96/109 file (the statements of witnesses X). In the discussion about the show of men and means, people threw scorn on Jumet and Abrasax rather than reflecting about how to follow up the information given by XI.

Thanks to the investigations of a team of young policemen, the body of Loubna Benassa was found on 5 March 1997 in Ixelles. The result was that the high echelons of the Gendarmerie were mainly cleared in the report by the Verwilghen Committee with respect to the old investigations into Dutroux. After telling the questioners of XI for months that they were the "life-belt" for the highly compromised hierarchy of the Gendarmerie, this was suddenly no longer the case. The plan of action of 23 December grew in size in the month of February: there was talk of 47 raids (and it was still not a question of troubling well-known figures). Meanwhile there were so many new trails that it seemed that the great operation would give a definitive answer to the question of the credibility of witness XI. Commander Jean-Luc Duterme, who was appointed head of the Neufchâteau unit at the end of 1996, had the plan for 47 raids revised to a minimalist scenario consisting of two searches. In the end only one search was carried out: at the home of XI herself. It did not give the slightest clue as to the scheme that some people believe to be the source of her statements. In the meantime, however, almost all the investigations based on the 96/109 file have been shelved.