Uncle of Missing Belgian Boy Released with Electronic Monitoring After Kidnapping Case

The indictment chamber granted the request of the Indictment Chamber, which had decided in early November to place him under electronic surveillance before the Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed. According to Belga, the appeal was declared unfounded by the indictment chamber on Monday.

The facts date back to September 17 during the disappearance of the young boy. Leaving his home in Mortsen to go to school by bike, the young Ilias, 10 years old, had not been seen again. The investigations carried out by the police, thanks to the many reports received, made it possible to locate the boy, in the company of his favorite uncle, Benjamine E.M, 26 years old, in the Walloon municipality of Steenkerque (Hainaut). Leaving by bike towards a nature park in France, they were planning to camp there before the police arrived. The uncle, finally arrested for kidnapping, had told the family that he was going on vacation without mentioning that he was taking his nephew.

His lawyers acknowledged his mistake but argued that he was motivated by good intentions. Thanks to the psychiatric investigation, which did not confirm any disturbing element, the uncle was found responsible for his actions, the same source specifies.