A Belgian court today ordered the trial by jury of Marc Dutroux, nearly seven years after his arrest over a series of abductions, rapes and murders of girls that shocked the world.
The court of appeal in the eastern city of Liege ordered that Dutroux stand trial on charges that he kidnapped and murdered four girls, including two eight-year-olds who lived in Liege.
He also stands accused of raping two other girls who were found alive in the cellar of one of his properties near the city of Charleroi in 1996 after surviving a horrifying ordeal.
"This is a case that shook Belgium to the core," said Mr Gino Russo, the father of Melissa, one of the two eight-year-old girls whose bodies were found at a Dutroux property near Charleroi.
"Belgians have the right to know the truth and with this decision, the truth is getting nearer," he said.
Lawyers said that standing trial alongside Dutroux, at a date to be decided, would be Dutroux's wife Ms Michele Martin, his "right-hand man" Mr Michel Lelievre and a fourth suspect, Mr Michel Nihoul. The trio are to face charges of kidnapping and complicity.
Mr Nihoul has been portrayed as the linchpin of a paedophile ring that included not only Dutroux but also senior Belgian politicians and judges.
Another court in January had ruled that there was insufficient evidence to try Mr Nihoul, a businessman. Observers say the Dutroux case is unlikely to come to trial before the end of this year or the start of 2004, after years of twists and turns in the investigation and several preliminary legal rulings.
The arrest of Dutroux in August 1996 was followed by mass protests in Belgium and a worldwide outcry against the sexual abuse of children, prompting crackdowns on child sex crime networks, especially on the Internet.
But lawyers for Dutroux, as well as the murdered girls' families, are convinced that more than the arrested foursome were involved.
AFP