Dutroux rejects charges

MARC DUTROUX, chief defendant in a horrific child rape and murder trial that has transfixed Belgium for more than three months, rejected the most serious charges against him yesterday in a final courtroom appeal before a jury decides his fate.

Speaking to the 12-member jury, Dutroux expressed ”sincere regret” for what he did but insisted his role was small and sought to shift responsibility to his three co-defendants and a shadowy crime network he claims is still at large.

Dutroux, 47, is charged with the murder of two girls, kidnapping leading to the death of another two, and faces charges of abduction, rape, torture and drug trafficking in the mid-1990s. He also is charged with murder.