Kidnap victim wants Dutroux silenced
A victim rescued from Marc Dutroux’s dungeon asked a court today to silence the paedophile during his rape and murder trial which has horrified Belgium.
Even a defence lawyer said he was outraged by Dutroux.
Sabine Dardenne, now 20, returned to the court in the southern town of Arlon to give evidence for a second day.
She objected when Dutroux implied he had kidnapped another victim in 1996 to find her a friend.
“Is it not possible to silence this man?” she asked.
She was also angered when Dutroux claimed he had protected her from a paedophile network which had killed other girls. ”So, if I understand you, I should be thankful?” she said.
Sabine, then aged 12, was kidnapped and sexually abused for 80 days before she was rescued from a secret cell in Dutroux’s basement two days after he was arrested along with his then wife and another defendant in August 1996.
Laetitia Delhez, now 22, was rescued from the cellar along with Sabine, and was to testify later today.
The case also involves the kidnap, sexual abuse and killing of four other girls aged between eight and 19.
Defence lawyer Ronny Baudewyn said he often was just as outraged as the victims from what he heard from Dutroux. ”You cannot imagine how angry I am sometimes,” he told state radio. “And I assure you that I let him know it.”
“It is very difficult to have respect for someone who did what he did, if only for the facts that he has admitted,” he said.
Apart from Delhez and Dardenne, two eight-year-old victims – Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo – are thought to have starved to death in Dutroux’ basement in 1996 while he was in jail for car theft and his wife neglected to feed them.
Two others – Eefje Lambrecks, 19, and An Marchal, 17 – were also killed in 1996. Their bodies were unearthed from a Dutroux backyard.
Dutroux, a convicted paedophile on parole at the time of the abductions in 1995 and 1996, has admitted kidnapping and abusing girls, but claims he was working for a criminal network recruiting prostitutes across Europe. The investigating judge has rejected the assertion.
