"Who recognizes this man?" : 38 years after the facts, the Belgian federal police launched Tuesday, June 16, a call for witnesses in the case known as the “Brabant killers” , a series of bloody robberies never elucidated.
Photographed in a wood, the man in question, dark glasses and dressed in a kind of khaki military uniform, sports a semi-automatic shotgun of the Italian brand Franchi. The investigation into this affair was resumed more than two years ago by the federal prosecution "with the commitment to start all over again" and the dissemination of this photo is part of this approach, explained to AFP. Eric Van Duyse, spokesperson for this prosecution, which is responsible in particular for terrorist files.
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The photo was given to investigators in 1986 by a person who said at the time that the man was "very important" in the matter, added the spokesperson. But this emissary "never said anything more". A series of robberies of supermarkets and small businesses had killed a total of 28 in central Belgium between 1982 and 1985, traumatizing the population. The second wave, in the fall of 1985, turned out to be particularly bloody, striking at random families who went shopping at the supermarket. A total of 16 people died on September 27 and November 9, 1985.
Gendarmes close to the far right
One of the most seriously envisaged tracks was that of a destabilization enterprise of the Belgian State carried out by gendarmes or ex-gendarmes reputed close to the extreme right. But this track never came to fruition in 35 years, despite the investigations regularly re-launched, and new arrests sometimes leading to charges.
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In an investigation file of hundreds of thousands of pages, the investigators also have a list of some 3,000 people "who approached the case from more or less far" , said Mr. Van Duyse. These are individuals already suspected for a time or whose names have circulated in various testimonies or hearings.
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It is in this pool that several hundred people have been identified called to deliver their DNA, as part of a collection campaign launched about six months ago. Some 200 people have already been affected by this operation, slowed down by the coronavirus pandemic. The samples must be compared to the traces kept in the file.
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