BELGIUM: BELGIUM MARKS THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF TWO YOUNG CHILDREN IN A CHILD MURDER SCANDAL

Record ID: 639735

  • Title: BELGIUM: BELGIUM MARKS THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF TWO YOUNG CHILDREN IN A CHILD MURDER SCANDAL
  • Date: 24th June 1997
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JNUE 24, 1997) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV EXTERIOR GOVERNMENT BUILDING/ PEOPLE OUTSIDE (2 SHOTS) 0.12 2. SV PHOTOGRAPHS DEAD CHILDREN 0.20 3. SLV FLOWERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS ON STEPS/ PAN TO PEOPLE HOLDING UP UMBRELLAS, STANDING ON STEPS OF BUILDINGS/ VARIOUS OF PEOPLE (6 SHOTS) 1.06 4. LV CARS PARKED, HORNS SOUNDING, PHOTOS IN CAR WINDOW (3 SHOTS) 1.23 5. SV MAN SOUNDING CAR HORN 1.28 6. LV EXT GOVERNMENT BUILDING, HORNS SOUNDING 1.34 7. SV WOMAN WAVING WHITE HANDKERCHIEF, HOLDING UMBRELLA 1.39 8. SV INTERIOR PROTESTORS HOLDING UMBRELLAS 1.45 9. SV CHILDREN HOLDING UMBRELLAS 1.52 10. SV MINISTER OF JUSTICE STEFAAN DE KLERK MEETING DELEGATION FROM WHITE COMMITTEE 2.01 11. LV WHITE COMMITTEE PRESENTS OPEN LETTER 2.07 12. SCU FRANCOIS LUC MONTULET FROM WHITE COMMITTEE SAYING THE GOVERNMENT PROMISED A LOT OF THINGS AND DIDN'T DELIVER ANY OF THEM (FRENCH) 2.27 13. CU/SV PEOPLE WITH PHOTOS OF DEAD GIRLS PINNED TO THEM (2 SHOTS) 2.36 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 9th July 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
  • City:
  • Country: Belgium
  • Reuters ID: LVAADL92X61R5D2ODSVXG8L1FFG5
  • Story Text: INTRO: A parents' group has delivered a letter of protest to the Belgium authorities claiming pledges made to combat child abuse have not been honoured.

    Car horns blared and umbrellas symbolically raised in Brussels on Tuesday (June 24) as Belgium marked the second anniversary of the disappearance of two young children at the centre of a child murder and sex scandal.

    Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, aged 8 and 10 when they were kidnapped, were found dead in a Belgian home belonging to Marc Dutroux last August.

    Dutroux, in a Belgian jail awaiting trial, is a major suspect in the string of child kidnappings and murders that have shocked Belgium and the world.

    Responding to the massive public outcry against perceived government and police incompetence in the case, the Belgian government pledged a series of measures to combat child abuse.

    But, according to a group representing the families of the dead children, the government has fallen well short of its promises.

    A delegation from the "White Committee" -- which takes its name from last October's White March that brought aquarter of a million people on to the streets of Brussels -- delivered a letter to Dutroux commission President Marc Verwilghen at the Belgian parliamnet.

    The letter urges Belgian politicians to do more to honour the commitments made, including the setting up of a centre for missing children and an examination of the judicial system.

    White Committee representative Francois Luc Montulet told Reuters Television the government had not delivered any of the promises made after the scandals became public .


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