2023-06-08 06:23:00
The guest at 7:50 a.m. on Bel RTL Matin this Thursday was Philippe Morandini, first president of the Mons Court of Appeal.
The Antwerp Court of Appeal decided two weeks ago to raise the Sanda Dia case and to rule on the merits of the case itself. The 18 members of the Reuzegom student circle of KU Leuven were found guilty of manslaughter, degrading treatment and breaches of animal welfare legislation. They were sentenced to between 200 and 300 hours of community service and 400 euros in damages. The defendants were acquitted of administering harmful substances and negligence.
These sentences, considered derisory and lax, provoked several demonstrations in the country as well as reactions from political parties. Faced with Antonio Solimando, Philippe Morandini, first president of the Court of Appeal of Mons, returned to these demonstrations which denounce a certain laxity of justice. An opinion he regrets:
“This saddens me, because justice is often decried, and it’s a shame“, he said. “The sentences handed down reflect a certain emotion and I understand it, I also knew it as a magistrate, as in the Dutroux and Fourniret cases. Only, the role of the judge is special, he does not do what he wants. The politician votes the laws he wants, while the judge must work within a legal framework and the sentences he pronounces are legal“.
The severity of the sentences, considered too light, is also at the heart of the anger. “It could be more severe, but the penalties are adapted to the types of individual that we have before us and to the factual situation.“, explains the magistrate. “Justice cannot be done under the influence of emotion: someone who punishes under the influence of emotion punishes badly“.
Class problem?
Among the anger, some, like the PTB, denounced the fact that the accused came rather from wealthy families, while the victim was of Mauritanian origin. Problem of class justice and racism? “When there are cases like Qatargate that break out, you cannot say that there is class justice. When it comes to the racial problem, I myself am a product of integration“, explains Philippe Morandini. “I am the grandson of an immigrant and we want to surf on a certain emotion that has no place to be“.
Concerning the criticisms of the policies on justice, the magistrate wanted to put the church back in the middle of the village. “My grandfather fled fascism in 1922 and I find that this state is going into a spin and that worries me. Justice is there to restore social peace and it cannot do it alone. It must be supported by the other powers. If the other powers only criticize the judiciary, it will not stand, but neither will the other powers.“.
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