To Outcry, Judge in Belgium Sex Abuse Case Fired

Belgium’s Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the chief judge investigating a nationwide child sex abuse ring, clouding the future of the inquiry and further eroding public confidence in the nation’s justice system.

The court said Jean-Marc Connerotte could no longer be impartial because he had attended a fund-raising dinner last month for families of missing children.

Outside the Justice Palace, hundreds of protesters jeered the Supreme Court and shouted “Murderers!” At a Volkswagen factory on the outskirts of Brussels, hundreds of workers staged a strike.

About 300,000 people had petitioned the court to retain Connerotte. His lead role in the case had restored some credibility to a justice system criticized for bungling the investigation of Marc Dutroux, a convicted child rapist.

Connerotte became a national hero in August after his investigators rescued two children from a secret dungeon on Dutroux’s property, found the bodies of four kidnapped young girls and uncovered a child pornography network.

In Belgium, an investigating judge collects evidence in criminal cases and prepares it for trial.

But the Supreme Court ruled Monday that Connerotte’s attendance at the fund-raising spaghetti dinner Sept. 21--and his acceptance of a $30 pen--meant that he could no longer be impartial.

“The impartiality of a judge is a fundamental rule of the judicial order,” the five-member panel wrote.

The charges were brought by Dutroux’s attorney, Julien Pierre, who said the Supreme Court had acted with “infinite wisdom” in dismissing Connerotte.

The parents of the slain girls and the prime minister had pleaded with the judges to keep Connerotte in charge of the investigation.

“I have lost all faith in justice,” said Paul Marchal, whose daughter was found buried on Dutroux’s property.

“What’s the use of a team if you no longer have a leader?” he said. “If you don’t need it, why have a king? Why have a prime minister?”