The federal prosecutor’s office opened the investigation it labelled Operation Chalice 8 years ago. It was charged with looking into sexual abuse by the clergy. It's now been claimed the investigation could end as early as this year. “The investigating magistrate in charge of the case hopes to wrap it all up in the autumn”, says Wenke Roggen, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office. She spoke to De Morgen on Saturday.
“The investigation has been going on for far too long”, says lawyer Christine Mussche. She is representing several dozen abuse victims, along with her colleague Walter Van Steenbrugge. “We have considered many times asking the Chamber of Accusations to look into how the investigation is being handled.”
Mussche is worried that the investigation won’t end before the year is out, which means the case won’t be handed over for indictments until then either. But the investigating magistrate has said he hopes to wrap up the investigation in the autumn, according to the federal prosecutor’s office spokesperson Wenke Roggen, who also argued the procedure has not be abnormally long. “Eight years is not a long time in such complex cases”, she said.
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The Brussels Times
