Lawyer Philippe De Keyser defends the interests of a Nivelloise, Sonia V., a 65-year-old woman who, suffering from Diogenes syndrome established by medical certificate dated September 5, was admitted four days later to the Saint-Pierre hospital in Ottignies.
It is a depressive syndrome making it necessary to administer his person and his property.
On September 2, the mayor of Nivelles, Pierre Huart, considered that his home on rue du Tienne in Deux Vallées was not occupied in compliance with health and hygiene standards. He ordered a site visit scheduled for Monday, September 19 at 11:30 a.m.
The lawyer flies to the aid of his client: “I have launched a civil summons once morest the mayor before the summary court which will sit next Tuesday, September 20. I ask him to prohibit Pierre Huart from carrying out his decision of September 2.
I also filed a request for the administration of my client’s person and property before the justice of the peace of the canton of Wavre since she is in Ottignies. The hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday, September 21.My client refused help from the CPAS (Public Center for Social Action) from Nivelles who suggested that he move elsewhere. It denies this institution the right to believe itself invested with a surveillance mission and the right to make an incursion into its building. The situation is the revelation of a pathology.”
In this regard, the medical literature shows that the person with this syndrome chooses social isolation. She comes to live almost recluse at home, disinterested, to a greater or lesser degree, in her personal hygiene. Accumulating large quantities of waste or objects of no immediate use in her home leads her to live in unhealthy situations.
Pierre Huart knows the file: “Already in 2017, the emergency services and the police informed me of the condition of this accommodation, which I visited on September 4 of that year. Sanitation measures were suggested, but the finding was been operated on a few weeks ago that the situation had not changed. The communal law, in its articles 133 and 135, imposes on the mayor the responsibility for the accommodation. This is why a raid on the scene has been scheduled for this Monday but, because of the summons, it will be canceled pending the hearing scheduled for the next day.”