Have the Belgium journos ever had any threat of legal action, complaint, etc, in their quoting of this file? Or just for possessing it?
No, the legal position in Belgium is quite clear. A criminal investigation is led by an investigating magistrate. While the investigation is taking place a legal notion called (in French) 'le secret d'instruction' applies. In French 'instruction' means 'investigation', in this context. Once the investigation is complete different rules apply, even if the subsequent trial has not yet taken place. These rules are unambiguous; no crime was committed by the journalists for mere possession, or quoting from the files. The only case of prior restraint which was applied (ie a UK-style court injunction) was when a Brussels based publication called 'The Sprout' went ahead and printed post-mortem photos of two of the dead children. The Belgian authorities made a successful application to prevent the publication going on sale, a decision I wholeheartedly applaud.
Who do you believe would be the most likely parties to try and prevent this quoting? Actually answer that one vaguely, no names, but location please.
As I said, preventing quoting has not been an issue in Belgium, as far as the law is concerned. Libel laws are a different kettle of fish, of course. Even though the laws in Belgium are far from draconian, no-one has stuck their neck out when it came to the 'big names.' I do not believe that there is a conspiracy here, however (although some people do). Most Belgian publications are running at a loss or are barely break-even, and this makes them risk-averse.
Who do you believe would be the most likely parties to try and prevent this quoting?
The most black and white case relates to a certain individual and his brother. This individual is also the one I worry about most, when it comes to seeking publication in the U.S. He is an extremely wealthy man in his own right, is chairman of one of Europe's largest financial institutions, received a hereditary title from the king (who is a personal friend) and enjoys enormous power and influence worldwide. He has attended at least one Bilderberg meeting (I mention this merely to show how well connected he is, I have little time for all the Bilderberg conspiracies). He is a close (and I mean, really close) personal friend of the chairman of the Bilderberg group.
This individual, and his brother, were the subject of very serious allegations. These allegations were made by independent witnesses, who did not know each other. What the case files reveal is that the brothers were being thoroughly investigated for a time, but this investigation was suspended because the policemen leading the enquiry were accused of a lack of professionalism. What makes the case like something out of Kafka, is the fact that the policemen were cleared of these accusations, after a lengthy enquiry during which the investigation remained suspended. They were even congratulated for their outstanding professionalism; all charges against them were without foundation.
Now these brothers were, in a sense, very unlucky. Their alleged activities came to light when all hell was let loose in Belgium, following the arrest of Marc Dutroux. The detectives were given, in the first few weeks, unprecedented powers, and they used them. And it just so happened that they looked under one particular nasty rock, and these brothers, together with their influential friends, crawled out...
Did the brothers call upon every favour they were owed? Pull every string? Use every weapon in their very considerable armoury to ensure that the investigation crawled to a halt? There is no proof of that, but what is certain is that it was outrageous that pure logic was not applied after the policemen, who led the enquiry into the brothers, were cleared of wrongdoing. The investigation was, after all, only suspended while policemen themselves were under scrutiny. But it is still suspended today, gathering dust...
The case is not closed, because even the Belgian authorities would not dare do that, so it remains in suspended animation, in the cellar of a courthouse of a small town in southern Belgium.
And no-one would have been any the wiser until a profoundly upset policeman made the most fateful decision of his life, and leaked a copy of the case file to journalists...
Didn't the domestic Belgium response to this oust everyone responsible?
The really important details of the case files never came out. The newspapers printed extracts, sure, but they were generally 'safe' ones. The photos of the police reconstructions, with Marc Dutroux acting as himself, with actresses or dummies playing his victims, were splashed over the front pages of all Belgian newspapers. But there was very little reporting of the scandals that the case files revealed. The two brothers were not even mentioned indirectly in the Belgian press.
One enormous advantages of going the U.S. route, I have been told, is that this individual will be considered a public figure as far as U.S. libel laws are concerned. Even though a judge has to decide if he qualifies (an element of uncertainty, admittedly) there is no doubt whatsoever that my guy fits the bill. Which means that he could only sue if he proves that I am publishing a deliberate falsehood, or am reckless as to its truth. This is a very difficult thing to prove, and is emphatically not the case anyway.
It must not be forgotten, however, that wholesale reforms of the criminal justice system did take place, following the Dutroux debacle. The police were reformed from top to bottom, for example. But only two ministerial resignations took place, and this was when Marc Dutroux escaped from prison (by a stroke of luck he was rearrested a few hours later). The trouble is that, although the Belgian police were sometime guilty of spectacular incompetence, they served as a highly convenient, and universal, scapegoat.
By the way, I think your book can be great. I'll buy it.
Well thanks, Adam
I hope I will at least get past the query letter stage. As for the perceived quality of the ms itself, I will just have to wait and see.