Prosecutor-general reviews Jonathan Jacob case
Antwerp prosecutor Herman Dams stepped down last week after admitting to intervening in the case of Jonathan Jacob, the psychiatric patient who died at the hands of a special police unit in a local jail cell three years ago. The case has been widely reported in recent weeks after footage of the man’s last moments was shown on the TV news programme Panorama. (See Flanders Today last week).
Antwerp prosecutor Herman Dams steps down, then retracts admission
Recent reports revealed that some documents in the case were possibly tampered with in order to conceal the role of the prosecutor’s office. Dams was under intense pressure from his superior, prosecutor-general Yves Liégeois, who announced at a press conference that Ingrid Pira, former mayor of Mortsel, had reviewed her own notes, which mentioned a contact with the prosecutor on the fatal night in question.
However, in a remarkable turn of events, last weekend Dams stated that he had confused two incidents and most likely did not intervene on the that night in 2010 after all. An assistant prosecutor is believed to have given the order to “knock out” Jacob with a sedative. Dams retracted his earlier admission.
The case will now be reviewed by Liégeois, under the supervision of the Cassation Court. The substitute magistrate now believed to have been involved was promoted last week, a decision that was made much earlier and independent of the Jacobs case.
