Belgians Strike Over Dismissal

BRUSSELS: Striking workers outraged over the dismissal of the judge investigating a child sex-ring case marched throughout the country Tuesday. Car workers marched to the Brussels Justice Palace as bus drivers, steel workers, railway employees firefighters and oil workers all spontaneously went out on strike. The strikes are in response a Belgian Supreme Court decision to remove investigating judge Jean-Marc Conerotte from the case of convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux. The Court said Conerotte prejudiced himself by attending a charity fundraiser dinner for the families of missing children. Conerotte received national acclaim after his investigators rescued two imprisoned girls and found the bodies of four others, breaking a child porn ring in the process. Although his dismissal was welcomed by Dutroux's lawyer, who called the move "infinite wisdom" it has shaken confidence in Belgium's legal system. Already undermined by accusations that the investigation was badly bungled before Conerotte took over, the legal apparatus is also under attack by newspapers like the daily Het Volk, which ran the headline "Powerless Anger" over a story on the case. -->