Trial
It took eight years for the case to come to trial. There were numerous problems, including arguments over jurisdiction, legal and procedural mistakes and charges of incompetence and evidence that disappeared. There were also several suicides of people involved with the case including prosecutors, police officers and witnesses. Communications between Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia also fell short. In October 1996, 350,000 people marched in Brussels to protest against police incompetence in the case. The slow pace of the trial and the disturbing revelations of more of Dutroux's victims created public outrage. During the trial, Dutroux claimed to be a minion of a continent-wide pedophile ring that included prominent individuals and the legal establishment in Belgium. Dardenne and Delhez both testified against Dutroux during his 2004 trial, and their testimony played an important role in his subsequent conviction. They both also asked him why he did what he did to them.
Dardenne's account of her abduction and its aftermath are documented in her memoir J'avais douze ans, j'ai pris mon vélo et je suis partie à l'école ("I was twelve years old, I took my bike and I left for school"). The book has been translated into 14 languages and published in 30 countries. It became a number one bestseller both in continental Europe and the UK.
Read more about this topic: Sabine Dardenne
Famous quotes containing the word trial:
“Between us two it’s not a star at all.
It’s a new patented electric light,
Put up on trial by that Jerseyite
So much is being now expected of....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“I have proved by actual trial that a letter, that takes an hour to write, takes only about 3 minutes to read!”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“For he is not a mortal, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. There is no umpire between us, who might lay his hand on us both.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Job 9:32-33.
Job, about God.