28 deaths, 39 years of investigation, a file of almost a million pages and no culprits, it is an acknowledgment of failure which will be announced on Friday to the families of victims of the Brabant killers.
On May 13, the families of the victims received a laconic letter from the investigating judge in charge of the case, Martine Michel. She invites them to an information session Friday morning at Justitia. “This meeting follows the order of April 11, 2024“, we can read. Clearly, the investigating judge considers that her investigation is complete, she has transmitted her file to the federal prosecutor’s office. It is up to him to draw up requisitions. In the absence of identified authors, the indictment should conclude to a general dismissal of charges and an end to investigations.
It’s not for lack of searching in all directions. From the trail of destabilization of the state by foreign powers to that of predatory criminals, including the hypotheses of racketeering against the Delhaize firm, targeted executions or, among others, the possible involvement of small far-right groups who allegedly infiltrated the gendarmerie, the directions of investigation have varied over the years. Without ever leading to concrete proof.
Five investigating judges followed one another, hundreds of names of potential perpetrators punctuate the file, a trial even took place, that of the borains finally cleared in 1988 and two parliamentary commissions of inquiry looked into the avenues to be explored , but nothing happened. Even the reward of one million euros offered by Delhaize to anyone who provided essential information remained a dead letter. In recent years, we have believed in it. The Bonkoffsky track, named after this former gendarme once suspected of being the giant, was finally closed. Searches in 2023 at the Thai home of Robert Beijer, another gendarme gone rogue, brought nothing new. Was DNA, unknown in 1985, finally going to speak? Several hundred DNA samples were taken, around a hundred bodies were even exhumed, all of these genetic fingerprints were compared to databases. In vain!
A few weeks ago, a new law was promulgated. It removed the statute of limitations for these crimes. No matter how much time passes, prosecution must always be possible, said the legislator. But where else to look? Should we persevere until a hypothetical elucidation, maintain this illusion or, on the contrary, admit failure with the frustration that this implies? Justice resolves to this last solution. There still remains the possibility of additional investigative duties. Some have already been requested by civil parties. At the end of September, the indictment chamber will decide whether to carry out them. If this is not the case, the investigation will be definitively closed, probably at the beginning of 2025. Unless a new and significant element comes to relaunch the research, for example, the discovery of the riot guns of the authors… Do we know Never!
For the victims’ families, Friday’s meeting risks dashing the last hopes of knowing by whom and why their loved ones were murdered. For all those who remember these dark years, this is an essential page in legal history which will be turned without us having the final word.
Brabant Killers
