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The After Dutroux Belgium: Tiffany Warnotte

J. Boeykens | 25.11.2004 09:55 | Social Struggles

Justice has not changed after the case Dutroux. Parents of missing children still remain without defense insured by basic human rights.

MISSING CHILDREN: THE AFTER DUTROUX BELGIUM

Saturday August 7, 2004 in Belgium, Tiffany Warnotte 15 years old, disappeared at lunch time, without taking any money, identity papers or change of clothes.

She had to meet a 19 years old friend, that her parents disapproved as she smoked joints supplied by her lover.

At 4 hours of the morning, they received three turbid telephone calls of a person who tried to pretend being their daughter, but did not have her voice.

The following day, the car of the drug provider was found crushed in a ditch and was sent to the breakers. Although inevitably associated to the criminal community at the times of his illicit purchases, he has not been auditioned.

The 19 year old young woman, last supposed to have seen Tiffany before she has vanished, made sevral contradictory statements, which generally hides something. However, the police services concluded to a running away, simply requiring of the parents to wait at home and see.

In excellent terms with the federal police, famous for its chronic abnormal operations as regards dismantling of policriminal networks, the newspaper DH diffused the rumour that Tiffany would have runaway due to ill treatments of her parents. A slandering that started such a violence from the class mates of her five brothers and sisters, that they had to change school.

Mr. and Mrs. Warnotte took a lawyer whose fees very quickly exceeded their means. Strangled by the expenses due to Tiffany's disappearance, they sought an officially appointed lawyer. They were then told that deontology prohibits any legal help to them as long as they had not settled their debts towards their first consulting.

The authorities disadvised the parents to constitute a claiming party in the criminal case. In result of this, three months after the childs' disappearance, no examining magistrate had been designated, as if the police could, without higher authority decide that a running away did not require from them to bring back the child home. A masterly legal abnormal operation at the time the life of a child is in danger, that was justified to the parents by the authorities due the fact that two magistrates of Namur would be sick.

The organization Child Focus decided in dialogue with the federal police, for a "targeted" diffusion of research warrents, they said. But the diffusion was so targeted that the news took three months to reach the independent organizations of the child welfare; so targeted that local police officers had never heard of it and so targeted that even Jean-Denis Lejeune, symbol of Child Focus and father of one of Dutroux' victims, had confused her name with Stéphanie.

Finally, the news was spread through the Internet and several independent associations of volonteers mobilized. This started an electronic tornado.

Child Focus was advised of the targetting problem and answered : "If you knew the little of means which we have", then slamed the phone down. Rather awkward of being so rude to volunteers who in three days and without money made more than the organisation in three months and with their 3 euros million annual of State grants.

Since, a television broadcast on RTL, diffused without the authorization of the parents and which explained the blocking of the investigation, as if it did not exist.

As regards of Tiffany, explains a police officer, "one is here within the framework of an atypical disappearance following several events. The first, is the absence of information enabling us to establish her timetable since she disappeared".

Here to indicate that missing children, eventually kidnapped or murdered in Belgium, must leave heaps of clues so that the inquiry is oriented towards criminals who will not demand a ransom, such those who perceive the benefit of their crime elsewhere than in prison.

Some persist in advising the family not to offend the state by telling their anger to the press, arguing they would never again get a lawyer.

Following a meeting on Saturday 20 November 2004, the responsible of S.O.S children on Internet, active militant as regards the fight against the police corruption, had public death threats. The urgent police help line has refused to move, therefore to establish an official report.

A habbit apparently, since three years earlier, this same police service had refused to intervene for the arrest of a Nigerian network member, caught in obvious offense of burning six children with cigarettes.

( http://groups.msn.com/WerkgroepMorkhoven)


J. Boeykens
- Homepage: http://www.morkhoven.org

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  1. I wish the best — John