BRUSSELS – Belgium’s justice minister has admitted to parliament that burglars seized documents from a judge’s home which were related to the highly inflammatory Caroloregienne case.

On Thursday morning, Charleroi’s public prosecutor Christian De Valkeneer confirmed that France Baekeland, who is handling the La Caroloregienne case, was the victim of a break-in, in which two briefcases had been taken.

He insisted hasty conclusions should not be drawn from the fact that the briefcases had been taken from Baekeland’s Namur home since the judge was also in charge of other cases.

However, later in the day, minister Laurette Onkelinx told parliament one of the cases did contain papers about the social housing company scandal in Charleroi.

Like the public prosecutor, Onkelinx insisted the theft could not affect the case which now involves four pending prosecutions. She said copies of the papers would be used.

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news