When it was announced that Marc Dutroux’s ex-wife, Michelle Martin, managed to obtain a ‘conditional’ release soon in 2011, it was met with a wall of incomprehension.
Michelle Martin
- Michelle Martin was born on January 15, 1960 in Waterloo as an only child.
- 1966 Michelle’s father dies as a result of a traffic accident.
- 1981 She obtains her teaching diploma.
- 1982 At the skating rink in Forest, Michelle meets 26-year-old married Marc Dutroux.
- That same year they moved in together in Marcinelle.
- Their first son Frédéric was born in 1984.
- 1985 Dutroux divorces his first wife. That year he raped five teenage girls.
- In 1988, Michelle Martin and Dutroux married in prison.
- April 1989: the court in Charleroi sentences Michelle Dutroux-Martin to 5 years in prison following the rapes of the 5 girls in 1985. Marc Dutroux is sentenced to 13.5 years.
- In 1992, Dutroux and Michelle were released early due to the application of the Lejeune Act. They will live in Sars-la-Buissière.
- 1993 Michelle has a second son and in 1995 Michelle has her third child: a girl.
- In 2002, she filed for divorce.
The crimes in 1995 and 1996
In 1995 and 1996, Dutroux kidnapped Julie Lejeune (8), Mélissa Russo (8), An Marchal (17), Eefje Lambrecks (19), Sabine Dardenne (12) and Laetitia Delhez (14). During the criminal proceedings it turns out that Michelle was aware of the kidnappings. When Dutroux
is imprisoned from December 1995 to March 1996, Michelle knows that Julie and Mélissa are locked in the basement, but does nothing about it. The two girls die of hardship.
When Michelle is arrested on August 13, 1996, she claims she doesn’t know why she didn’t free Julie and Mélissa from the basement. She says she was blinded by ,the fear that there were animals in the basement that would kill her., ,I wasn’t myself anymore.,
The 2004 trial
During the trial against the Dutroux in 2004, she poses as a defenseless, servile woman. The investigating psychiatrists conclude that Michelle had control over her actions at the time of the facts and was therefore responsible for what she did.
She was accused of:
- to be a member of a gang that kidnapped and held captive 6 girls.
- The unlawful imprisonment of Julie, Melissa, An, Eefje, Sabine and Laetitia.
- The rape of Yanka Mackova.
She confessed all the facts, but said that she acted under duress from her husband Marc Dutroux.
Michelle Mart was sentenced to 30 years in prison at the Dutroux trial.
Applications for conditional release
In December 2006, she applied for early release, as she did in 2007 and 2009. These requests were rejected each time .
In 2011, her request for ‘conditional release’ was granted. She will have been imprisoned there for 16 of the 30 years.
Conditional release in Belgium
Definition
Early release can be described as a system by which prisoners are released before they have completed their actual sentence.
In 2011, early release still falls under the conditional release scheme in Belgium.
Conditions
- The person concerned must have been sentenced to a custodial sentence, of which he has served a certain part of his sentence.
- Detainees can only be released on parole if the prison management deems this possible.
- For life sentences, the time limit is sixteen years.
- Detainee must demonstrate good behavior during detention.
- There may be no contraindications. These relate to the absence of prospects for social rehabilitation, the risk of committing new criminal offences, the risk of recidivism, the risk that the convicted person would harass victims and the attitude of the convicted person towards his victims.
- The sentencing court will also take into account, for example, the ability of the convicted person to find shelter, the effort made to compensate the civil party, etc.
- Conditions can be imposed by the sentencing judge to limit the risk of recidivism or if they are necessary in the interests of the victims.
The conditions regarding Michelle Martin
Soon Michelle Martin will have spent 16 years in prison. In that respect, the conditions in the law have been met.
The director of the prison decides whether the application for ‘provisional’ release may be submitted to the sentencing court. Apparently the prison director has deemed that Michelle Martin may be eligible for parole.
With regard to this release, the sentencing court will impose specific conditions in the interests of the victims. The sentencing court has indicated that Michelle Mart should enter a convent in France. The latter will not happen because France refuses to receive Michelle Martin in France, whether or not in a convent . It is expected that other fairly stringent conditions will be imposed .
Social dismay over the release of Dutroux’s ex-wife
The Dutroux affair has shaken the Belgian nation to its foundations and continues to do so.
It is especially the horror at what was done to defenseless girls that provokes great opposition for all who were involved in the Dutroux case. The misunderstanding about the conditional or early release of a person from this affair is understandable.
However: Michelle Martin has served more than half of her sentence and according to the legal rules, which have been specially adapted since the release of the two Dutroux in the 1990s, now give her the opportunity and the right to to be released earlier.
The fact that people in Belgium themselves are not happy with this situation is evident from the fact that the sentencing court wants to attach rather strict conditions to her release. How free will Michelle Martin be in a convent?
Ultimately, it remains a matter that is extremely difficult from a social and political perspective . Yet nothing can be done about it. If Michelle Martin is released, she will have the law on her side.
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- Will Marc Dutroux also be released early?