André Desenfants is the number two of the federal police, after CEO Marc De Mesmaeker (who previously came to testify in committee). Since the end of 2017, he has been director-general of the General Directorate of Administrative Police and in that guise he is responsible for the aviation police, but also for the road, railway and shipping police.
We fast forward to August 20, 2020. Desenfants decides to (temporarily) step aside. The reason? He was not aware of what had happened that night from 23 to 24 February in the police cell in Charleroi. “I was deeply moved by the information and the images that I saw. I was not aware of the images and the facts that took place. I did not make any mistakes, I also want to know why I was not aware of it. “, it sounded at an emotional press conference.
And that is why the committee invited him: they want to know how it is possible that Desenfants was not informed.
But hadn’t another cop been pushed aside? Yes, Danny Elst, the direct director of the aviation police. He was transferred to another service on August 22. Will he not be heard in the committee? No, it turns out. After all, Elst is directly involved in the investigation and we hear that the committee does not want to get in the way of the investigation itself.
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