2023-10-22 15:03:00
The public prosecutor’s office in Brussels is in poor condition. La Libre has exposed the situation on numerous occasions and, each time, our interlocutors from the legal world deplored “the abandonment of the largest public prosecutor’s office in the country”.
Will the reinforcement measures announced by the Prime Minister on Saturday, including the arrival of five new magistrates, allow the situation to improve? Several magistrates were contacted. They are unanimous: “these scoops will be of no use” because “no one wants to work in the mess that is this bloodless parquet floor”. And added: “It’s sad to see that it took an attack to have additional magistrates, even though we have been calling for reinforcements for years.”
The arrival of five magistrates also seems to raise eyebrows, as the workload is so heavy. “For the framework to be complete at the Brussels public prosecutor’s office, 119 magistrates are needed. There are 95 today. In any case, officially, because we didn’t take into account absentees like people who are burned out, and there are a lot of them, we confide. So I wonder what the arrival of five magistrates will change”.
Our interlocutors, from the judiciary, also deplore the absence of a real boss at the head of the Brussels public prosecutor’s office.
Zero judges for homicide cases, three for morals
La Libre also learns that, recently, magistrates active in the Brussels King’s prosecutor’s office were sent elsewhere, to strengthen other justice services, to the detriment of the Brussels King’s prosecutor’s office. “In the homicide section of the Brussels public prosecutor’s office, there was a judge, but she had to be sent to the general public prosecutor’s office. So basically, they no longer have anyone for homicide cases. In the morals section, there are three of them. Consequence: Loubna Benaissa type files (girl who disappeared in 92 in Brussels, found dead in 97 in the cellar of Patrick Derochette, who had sexually abused the child, Editor’s note), they pile up in the cupboards, due to lack of time and means to treat them,” lament several well-informed sources.
The magistrates questioned also denounce the fact that the identity of their colleague, involved in the case of Abdesalem Lassoued, author of Monday’s attack, is publicly disseminated. “The error made is human, because he is overwhelmed as we all are in Brussels. It happened to him, but it might happen to any magistrate. No one is safe because the workload is immense, and it is no longer possible to work.”
And to conclude: “We hear that this prosecution is presented as a hive, that the magistrates who work there are bees. In fact, it looks more like a pile of manure, and around it are poor flies. This is the harsh reality.”
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“At least 300 million needed for the police”
The observation is just as bitter on the police side where reinforcements were also announced by the Prime Minister on Saturday.
”For the federal judicial police, the PJF, the first problem will be finding candidates, because since the government’s decision to put an end – despite union warnings – to the “Daily Expenses” allowance from which PJF members benefited since the reform until 2022, applications to become investigators have dried up,” explains Vincent Gilles, president of the SLFP Police, the largest police union in the country.
The police union also questions the announced reinforcement within the railway police. He specifies that since the beginning of this year, 15 police officers from this section have had to be sent elsewhere, to fill gaps in other services, particularly at border controls. Vincent Gilles is therefore surprised to see that reinforcements are being announced today in a department that has recently lost some of its staff. “To be able to put the federal police back on its two feet, we must courageously concede that at least 300 million on an annual basis are necessary,” insists Vincent Gilles.
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