The Dutch authorities are to transfer a man that is suspected of having been involved in a shooting that left an 11-year-old girl from Antwerp dead to Belgium for questioning. Early last year the girl, who was from the Merksem district of Antwerp, was having dinner with her family when the house they live in was shot at.
Dutch judicial authorities to send suspect in the case of an 11-year-old Antwerp girl that was shot dead to Belgium
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The shooting is believed to have been drug related. The girl’s sisters and her father were slightly injured in the shooting and received hospital treatment.
In February this year, two suspects were arrested. They were a 53-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man. The man was released after questioning. The woman is still on remand. Her DNA was found on one of the five bullet casings that were retrieved at the scene of the shooting. Just under a month later two further suspects were apprehended in The Netherlands. The suspects are a 31-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman. Previously the Antwerp prosecutor’s office had said that there was a possible link with The Netherlands. An appeal was made for information and this resulted in dozens of tips from people both here in Belgium and in The Netherlands.
Today a court in The Netherlands ruled that the suspect may be transferred to Belgium on condition that guarantees are given concerning the conditions in which he will be held in a Belgian prison while he is on remand. Furthermore, if convicted by a Belgian court he will be able to serve his sentence in a Dutch prison.
The female suspect has been questioned by Dutch detectives. The Dutch court ruled that it is no longer necessary to keep her in custody. This would indicate that she is no longer a suspect in the case.