As we go into the third week of the trial of Abdullah Ait Oud, we read about Friday's session when the oral arguments for the civil parties were heard, as reported by Enfants Kidnappés.
Les parties civiles ont débuté leurs plaidoiries ce vendredi matin aux assises de Liège.
Durant presque trois heures, la maman de Nathalie, Catherine Dizier, a tenu sur ses genoux ou a brandi, les bras tendus vers le box de l'accusé, un cadre contenant des photos noir et blanc des fillettes. Pendant presque trois heures, elle a défié l'accusé du regard, ne baissant jamais les yeux. Dans son box, l'accusé n'a pas bronché. A quelques reprises, il s'est remué sur sa chaise. Mais la plupart du temps, il a gardé les bras croisés, regardant le plaideur et, dans le même axe de regard, la maman de Nathalie.
The civil parties began their oral arguments on Friday morning at the Liège assizes.
For almost three hours, Nathalie’s mother, Catherine Dizier, held on her knees or waved towards the dock, a frame containing black and white photos of the little girls. For nearly three hours, she defied the accused to look, never lowering her eyes. In the dock, the accused did not react. He stirred in his seat a few times, but most of the time, he kept his arms crossed, looking at the litigant ad, in the same line of sight, Nathalie’s mother.
Regard de haine"Je suis stupéfait par sa voix douce aux accents sincères mais aussi par son absence d'émotion, même quand son regard croise celui des parties civiles", remarquera d'ailleurs Me Vincent Sauvage, le conseil de Didier Mahy. "Abdallah Ait Oud, vous n'êtes pas le coupable idéal; vous êtes le coupable!", a clamé Me Denis Drion, le conseil de Thierry Lemmens. "Vous êtes coupable d'avoir donné la vision de votre regard plein de haine et de concupiscence comme dernière image aux deux petites filles", a-t-il ajouté. Pour Me Moureau, le conseil de Christiane Granziero, la culpabilité de l'accusé ne fait non plus aucun doute. "Ce n'est pas parce qu'il ne peut ou ne veut avouer que ça doit générer le moindre doute", a-t-il remarqué, dénonçant le "cynisme d'un psychopathe qui ne peut pas rentrer dans son propre esprit pour savoir ce qu'il s'est passé", et qui n'avouera jamais.
A look of hatred.
“I am amazed by his gentle, sincere-sounding, voice but also by his lack of emotion, even when his gaze meets that of the civil parties,” Me Vincent Sauvage, lawyer for Didier Mahy, noted elsewhere. “Abdallah Ait Out you are not the ideal culprit; you are the culprit!” shouted Me Denis Drion, lawyer for Thierry Lemmens. “You are guilty of having given the vision of your eyes full of hate and lust, as the last image for the two little girls.” He added. For Me Moureau, lawyer for Christiane Granziero, there is no longer any doubt of the guilt of the accused. “It is not because he cannot or will not confess that this generates the least doubt,” he remarked, denouncing the, “cynicism of a psychopath, who is unable to look inside himself to know what he did,” and who will never confess.
Ca l'excite!"
Il est constitutionnellement incapable de se remettre en question et d'avouer. Lui qui ne peut pas admettre perdre au kicker par sa faute, comment pourrait-il avouer?", a-t-il souligné. Sans aveu de l'accusé, les familles ne connaîtront pas le déroulement des faits."Je suis donc contraint de vous raconter mon histoire; la version de mon intime conviction", a annoncé Me Moureau, décrivant les derniers moments des enfants qui ignoraient, alors qu'elles jouaient, "que tout près d'elles, un homme s'était mis en chasse; un homme méchant; un pédophile récidiviste et psychopathe". Selon lui, l'auteur a abordé les fillettes, qu'il avait auparavant repérées. "Les petites filles, ça l'excite", ajoutera même Me Moureau. Il a proposé gentiment à Nathalie et Stacy d'aller voir des tortues et les a emmenées sans force dans un terrain vague. Quand Nathalie a voulu partir, ils les a empoignées par le bras, comme en témoignent les hématomes retrouvés sur le bras gauche de l'une; sur le droit de l'autre. Il les a traînées dans un endroit discret. Nathalie a crié. Il l'a assommée.
That excites him.
“He is constitutionally incapable of questioning himself and of confessing. He is incapable of admitting to losing at table football through his mistakes, how could he confess?” he stressed. Without the accused’s confession, the families will not know how the events unfolded.
“I am therefore obliged to tell you my story; the version of my personal beliefs.” Announced Me Moureau, describing the children’s last moments, unaware while they were playing,"that very close to them, a man was hunting, a wicked man, a recidivist paedophile and psychopath.” According to him, the perpetrator approached the little girls, whom he had previously marked out. “Little girls, that excites him.” Me Moureau also added. He politely suggested to Nathalie and Stacy that they go and see some tortoises and he led them, without force, into a vacant lot. When Nathalie wanted to leave, he grabbed them by the arms, as evidenced by the bruises found on the left arm of one, the right of the other. He dragged them to a secluded place. Nathalie shouted. He knocked her out.
Irracontable
"Et puis c'est l'horreur", dira Philippe Moureau. Il a mis ses mains et a serré le cou de l'enfant de 7 ans. Entre quelques secondes et quelques minutes, l'air s'est échappé et la petite Stacy est morte. "Il a alors pu s'occuper de Nathalie, mais ça, c'est irracontable", a-t-il souligné. Depuis les faits de 2001, Abdallah Ait Oud a amélioré sa technique. "Et si vous le relâchez, il l'améliorera encore et brûlera les preuves scientifiques", ont prévenu les avocats des parties civiles. Le modus operandi de 2006 est cependant fort similaire à celui des faits de 2001, a remarqué Me Vincent Sauvage. Les deux fois, il a approché ses victimes grâce à un stratagème; demander sa route à la jeune fille de 14 ans en 2001, chercher des tortues en 2006. A deux reprises, il a assommé ses victimes. A deux reprises, il a commis des viols. Les deux fois, il a commis son méfait suite à une frustration; après avoir été traité de pédophile en 2001, après s'être disputé avec sa compagne en 2006. Après les deux faits, il a disparu pendant plusieurs jours.
Irreconcilable.
“And then it’s the horror,” said Philippe Moureau. He took his hands and shook the seven year-old child by the neck. Between a few seconds and a few minutes, the air was gone and Stacy died. “He could then occupy himself with Nathalie, but that, it is irreconcilable,” he stressed. Since the events of 2001, Abdallah Ait Oud has improved his technique. “And if you release him, he will improve it even further and will burn the forensic evidence,” the lawyers for the civil parties warned. The modus operandi of 2006 are, however, very similar to those of 2001, remarked Me Vincent Sauvage. On both occasions he approached his victims using a ploy; asking the way of a young 14 year-old in 2001, looking for tortoises in 2006. On both occasions he knocked his victims out. On both occasions, he committed rapes. Both times he committed his wickedness following a frustration; after having been treated as a paedophile in 2001, after arguing with his partner in 2006. After both events, he disappeared for several days.
Erreur de diagnostic
Suite aux faits de 2001, Abdallah Ait Oud a été interné puis libéré 4 ans plus tard car un psychiatre a évoqué une erreur de diagnostic. "La justice a laissé une grenade dégoupillée dans la société", a déploré Me Sauvage, avant de s'adresser aux jurés et de citer le philosphe Edmund Burke: "pour triompher, le mal n' a besoin que de l'inaction de gens de bien". Vendredi après-midi, la cour entendra les plaidoiries de Mes Swennen et Henrard, les conseils de Mme Dizier; de Me Greffe, le conseil du demi-frère de Stacy et de Mes Balland et Delicourt, défendant les intérêts de l'ex-compagne de Thierry Lemmens. (7S7)
Diagnostic error.
Following the events of 2001, Abdallah Ait Oud was imprisoned then freed 4 years later because a psychiatrist made an error in diagnosis. “The law left an unexploded grenade in society,” lamented Me Sauvage, before addressing the jury and citing the philosopher Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.” On Friday afternoon the court heard the oral arguments of Mes Swennen and Henrard, lawyers for Mme Dizier, and Me Greffe, lawyer for Stacy’s half-brother and Mes Balland and Delicourt, defending the interests of Thierry Lemmens’ ex-partner. (7S7)
There are echoes here of the Fourniret case. Michel Fourniret also had a well worked out strategy for getting young girls and young women to trust him. Fourniret, too, asked several of his victims to direct him, claiming that he could not find his way. Fourniret too, had been to prsion previously for sexual assaults on young women. If Abdallah Ait Oud had not been caught, I wonder if he would have gone on to repeat his wicked crimes. Research seems to show that serial killers often progress from rape to murdering their victims. Fourniret had a wife who colluded with him. I guess we can be thankful, for the potential victims of Ait Oud, who have been saved, that Ait Oud did not have such a wife. His partner tried to say that she had confidence in him, but she did refer to his, "unexplained absence," and of course, the Dutroux case has made the Belgian police more aware of looking for recidivist paedophiles in the community.
I am aware that Ait Oud has not yet been found guilty by the court, but this seems to be inevitable, given the evidence so far. On Monday his lawyers tried to have a motion accepted by the judge, claiming that because of the publicity, and other factors, that Ait Oud could not have a fair trial. This was rejected by the court.
http://www.kidnapping.be/belgique/index.html
8/06/08
