Victims' families incredulous at apology 02/10/2007 00:00

2 October 2007

ANTWERPS – Lawyer Kris Luyckx was very clear in presenting the view of the family of murdered Malian childminder Oulematou Miangadou regarding her murderer's "apology" in the courtroom on Monday.

"For them Van Themsche is an actor. They do not believe the sincerity of his regret. Moreover he failed to answer what the essential question is for all of us: why did he shoot three people? We didn't even start to get an answer to that during his questioning."

For the parents and family of 2-year-old Luna, also murdered together with her nanny, the questioning of Hans Van Themsche was "so business-like that it was extremely painful," their lawyer Jef Vermassen said. He is reserving any further commentary until his statements at the end of the trial.

When Van Themsche offered his apologies three times to the families in the courtroom on Monday, Roman Drowart, Luna's father, stood up. "Not to accept the apologies," a friend of the family adds. "There is much too much anger for that."

"Was Van Themsche extremely sincere or extremely insincere in his apology? We will never know."  Lawyer Vic Van Aelst and his client Songül Koç, the Turkish woman whom Van Themsche shot and seriously injured, do not know how to take the young man's apologies. "It does not alter any of the cowardliness of his deeds, Van Themsche said so himself.  This is also such a sad story, words cannot describe."

[Copyright Expatica News 2007]

Subject: Belgian news