Michel Lelièvre, an accomplice of Marc Dutroux sentenced in 2004 to 25 years in prison for his participation in the kidnapping and kidnapping of several victims of the pedophile, was released from prison Monday, said the Belgian prison administration. "We confirm the release, he was released under conditions this morning," said a spokesman for the administration.
At the end of September, Belgian courts granted Michel Lelièvre a conditional release, provided he found a home within six months. The Brussels sentence enforcement court also imposes on him a total of a dozen conditions, including those to undertake training and / or work and to compensate civil parties, according to the Belgian media. The Brussels public prosecutor's office issued an "unfavorable opinion" on this measure.
"The handyman" by Marc Dutroux
Now 48, Michel Lelièvre was arrested in 1996 at the same time as Marc Dutroux and Michelle Martin, who was at the time the companion of the pedophile. He had been incarcerated at Ittre Prison and had been eligible for electronic surveillance and parole since 2005. He had already been granted exit permits in 2013. Regarded as Dutroux's "handyman", Lelièvre had been sentenced for his participation in the kidnapping of An and Eefje in 1995 on the Belgian coast. These are two of the four girls found dead a year later in the properties of one who is considered one of the worst criminals in history in Belgium.
The Assize Court of Arlon in 2004 also considered that Michel Lelièvre had helped Marc Dutroux during the abduction of Laetitia and Sabine, who they will be found alive in August 1996, immured in a house in Charleroi. Of the three convicted, Michel Lelièvre is the second to obtain a measure of parole. Michelle Martin, sentenced to 30 years, was released conditionally in 2012, causing many demonstrations of hostility in Belgium.
The main protagonist of the case, sentenced to life imprisonment, is still imprisoned in the prison of Nivelles (center). At the end of October, the Belgian court granted its request for a new psychiatric expertise for a possible release after more than 23 years in prison.