News Stories - Belgium: trial of Marc Dutroux
With a police helicopter hovering overhead and hundreds of officers on duty around the courthouse, Belgium is finally witnessing the trial of Marc Dutroux. It's eight years since he was arrested and charged with murder, rape, abduction and imprisonment; eight years since four girls died and two others were rescued from a basement cell. In court today, the defendant sat behind bullet-proof glass as the court prepared to swear in a jury.

Defence lawyers will argue that it's impossible for Marc Dutroux to get a fair trial in a country which has, in effect, already declared him guilty. He was he was just a pawn in the game, part of a much broader conspiracy. Many Belgians believe him. They point to police and judicial blunders as evidence that there's been a campaign to cover up the truth. But the prosecution says Dutroux and his accomplices worked on their own. They will argue that he is an evil man, responsible for the most horrific of crimes.
 
- vocabulary:
hovering: waiting, in the air, in one place

rape: when a man makes a woman have sex with him when she doesn't want to
abduction: if someone abducts another person, they take the person away, using force
bullet-proof: made of a strong material that bullets cannot pass through
swear in: to promise to fulfil the duties of a new job or appointment


pawn: someone being used by another person for his or her own advantage
judicial: relating to judgement in a court of law
blunders: stupid mistakes

accomplices: an accomplice is someone who helps another person commit a crime
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