The man suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and death of four-year-old Belgian toddler Dean can be handed over to Belgium. That is what the International Legal Aid Chamber (IRK) of the Amsterdam District Court has Tuesday determined† The 34-year-old Dave De K. is suspected of kidnapping and murder or manslaughter by the Belgian justice. The Belgian suspect says he is innocent. Surrender occurs when a suspect is transferred by the Netherlands to another EU country.
De K. wanted to stand trial in the Netherlands because he is concerned about the conditions in the Dendermonde prison. The right to access psychological and medical care is at risk, his lawyer said, because the facilities there are said to be substandard. However, the IRK found that there is no such ‘general real danger’.
The lifeless body of four-year-old Dean was found last month at Neeltje Jans in Zeeland, after being missing for five days. De K. was the nanny of the Belgian toddler. He would have been seen shortly before the disappearance with De K. in Sint-Niklaas in Belgium. The Belgian was arrested in the Utrecht village of Meerkerk, his car was found in Gorinchem.
Supervision
De K. was previously sentenced to ten years in prison for assault resulting in the death of his two-year-old stepson. The boy died of a cerebral hemorrhage. De K. would have requested a transfer to a psychiatric institution during his prison sentence, but was not accepted anywhere due to a combination of overcrowding, the seriousness of the crime committed by De K. and his addiction problems.
The supervision of De K. stopped after he had served his sentence for the crime. The Belgian Minister of Justice has promised to invest more in guiding ‘psychopaths’ during and after their prison term.
Also read: Belgian minister wants more supervision of ‘psychopaths’ after the death of a four-year-old boy