Uncle of Missing Belgian Boy Ilias Faces Legal Battle Over Electronic Monitoring

8 November 2020 – bySylvanus@Bladi · 1 min read

The decision of the Antwerp chamber of council to place the uncle of Ilias Chahdi, a 12-year-old boy who disappeared and was then found safe and sound, under electronic surveillance is not to the taste of the public prosecutor’s office, which intends to appeal. Benjamine E.M. is being held in pre-trial detention until his appearance before the indictment chamber in the coming days.

Little Ilias, from Mortsel, in the province of Antwerp, had disappeared on Thursday, September 17 and was found safe and sound on Sunday, September 20 in the village of Steenkerque, in Wallonia. The police had suspected Benjamin E.M. of having kidnapped his nephew with whom he has strong ties. Suspicion justified.

The investigators contacted the suspect after receiving a lot of information. He made them believe that he had not seen his nephew and would be in France. The investigators do not believe him. They manage to geolocate him in less than a minute. He was in a village in Hainaut. Not in France. The suspect was arrested on Rue d’Enghien in the company of the boy. For the police, it is clear that he had planned the kidnapping of his nephew. He will be placed under a warrant.

Category: Belgium

Keywords:

Belgium Rights and Justice Antwerp