Posted on 07/05/2010 6:55:32 AM PDT by Cardhu
Police investigating claims of child abuse by Belgian clergy have told the BBC they are probing death threats against witnesses and magistrates.
Last month police raided a meeting of Belgium's Catholic bishops as part of their investigation, seizing computers and documents.
They even searched the tomb of at least one cardinal, prompting an angry response from the Vatican.
The country is one of several where the Church has been shaken by abuse claims.
The investigation into child abuse allegations in Belgium's Catholic Church has already prompted extraordinary scenes, says the BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels.
But now the investigation has taken an unexpected turn.
Officials say that police are also looking into threats to the lives of some witnesses and magistrates connected to the case.
Jean Marc Meillure, a spokesman for the public prosecutors office, confirmed that an investigation was under way.
"There are some threats against certain people around the case, and the prosecutors office is investigating that," he told the BBC.
He said the threats had been made against people who gave the authorities information or made a complaint, or against some magistrates.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
*ping*
Why is Belgium Ground Zero for pedophilia? Parts of it are quite pretty and worth visiting.
The threats, if any, probably came from some of the victims. The only reason these men, who are now in their 50s and 60s, agreed to come forward and discuss it with the Church commission was that they were promised that there would be absolute confidentiality. The information was not to be made public because the men did not want these secrets from their past made known to the world. I have read that some of them are quite angry about the actions of the police.
I’m wishing that PapaBenXVI had kept his complaints about the thing to official channels. Upping the heat level and lowering the signal to noise ratio isn’t helping things.
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