Michel Fourniret: the Belgian victims will receive less compensation.

Enfants KIdnappés 16/11/08

The victims are not equal in the eyes of the law?!

The Belgian victims of Michel Fourniret will not receive the compensation planned by the Charleville-Mézières court of assizes because legislation on the subject of compensation is not the same in Belgium and France, RTL-TVI announced in its JT at 7pm.

In Belgium, in contrast to France, the surviving relatives of victims cannot obtain compensation. Further, compensation for victims is subject to a ceiling of 62,000 € for everyone. In the case of Joëlle Parfondry, who was subjected to attempted rape by Michel Fourniret in 1995, near Namur, and who had survived on the pretext of being pregnant, the French court had demanded 140,000 € in compensation.

62,000 € maximum

However, the Belgian funds for compensating victims can only give her a maximum of 62,000 €. As for her children and her husband, for whom the court had also anticipated compensation, they have no right to anything in Belgium. Fourniret's Belgian victims who thought they could turn over the page are going to have to prove that they well and truly suffered mental harm, with supportive evidence, because for the Belgian victims' compensation fund, the verdict of the court of assizes is not enough.

Also, this brings up the question of the difference in treatment between Belgian and French victims, RTL-TVI says. The Belgian civil parties have now instructed a lawyer to obtain their compensation. Me Isabelle de Moffarts hopes "that for compensation for the civil parties, account is taken of the extraordinary nature of the case and that a creative system can be found that allows the differences in national legislation to be overcome to offer all the civil parties in this trial equal treatment."

100,000 € for Joëlle Parfondry

The parents, brothers and sisters of seven young girls killed by Michel Fourniret, his surviving victims and their relatives saw themselves being awarded compensation for mental harm suffered. The magistrates of the court had awarded in general 75,000 euros for each father or mother of a dead victim, 50,000 euros for brothers or sisters, and between 7,500 and 40,000 euros, still under the heading of mental harm, depending on the severity of the consequences for the three young girls who escaped from Fourniret.

Joëlle Parfondry, should, for her part, also receive 100,000 euros under the heading of IPP (permanent partial disability). The arguments had, in fact, shown that she had suffered "extremely serious," shock.