BELGIUM: Ex-wife of Belgian child killer Marc Dutroux transferred to convent from prison.

Record ID: 573023

  • Title: BELGIUM: Ex-wife of Belgian child killer Marc Dutroux transferred to convent from prison.
  • Date: 28th August 2012
  • Summary: DEMONSTRATORS
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Reuters ID: LVA591VHGGHUHCIY4E8L71D81BHD
  • Story Text: The ex-wife and accomplice of Marc Dutroux, the child murderer whose crimes horrified Belgium in the 1990s, arrives at a convent after her transfer from prison.
    The ex-wife and accomplice of child murderer Marc Dutroux was brought to a convent after she was freed from prison on Tuesday (August 28).
    Michelle Martin was released after Belgium's highest appeal court dismissed an effort by prosecutors to overturn a lower court's decision last month to approve her early release.
    Dutroux was arrested in 1996 and found guilty of kidnapping and raping six girls. He killed two and left two others to starve to death in a makeshift dungeon.
    Martin failed to feed the girls while Dutroux was jailed for car theft. She was convicted of helping him and has now served 16 years of a 30 year sentence.
    Martin will live in the convent in the village of Malonne, 60 km (37 miles) southeast of Brussels.
    Dozens of people lined the streets outside the monastery which has already been daubed with graffiti by angry protesters. Some held up a banner with the names of victims.
    The Poor Clares nuns' convent, which has said it agreed to take her in the spirit of Christian forgiveness, is next to a nursery school and offers retreats and musical performances.
    The mayor of Namur, which oversees Malonne, has said late on Monday that he had no means to prevent Martin's arrival and police were already prepared to control protests.
    Under Belgian law, criminals can be freed after serving a third of their sentences, as long as they meet certain conditions.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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