Gabriels: "Working together across party boundaries against sexual violence"Placed at 16:59h in justice, Chamber of Deputies by Ilse De NutteOpen Vld-Mp Katja Gabriëls calls on all (democratic) political parties to cooperate across party boundaries following the Report of the Supreme Court of Justice on the Julie Van Espen case.

"The fight against sexual violence must be a priority for all political parties. That is why we must join forces," said Gabriels, who, together with Goedele Liekens, wants to make this a top priority. The Supreme Court of Justice took a closer look at the Julie Van Espen case and formulated a clear report with several recommendations. Gabriels already took these recommendations under the arm and already wrote a bill to better monitor potential perpetrators while awaiting their trial. Gabriels: "Perpetrators who are provisionally free pending their trial must today meet different conditions for up to three months until a final ruling follows. But it often takes more than three months for a ruling to be made. If the Public Prosecutor's Office then forgets to ask for the extension of the terms, it may go wrong. Perpetrators are then not under-followed, which may mean that they commit new facts. We have to avoid that. We want these conditions to remain indefinite until a ruling is made. That way, the police and the judiciary do not lose sight of potential perpetrators." But according to Gabriels, more needs to be done and all political parties must join forces to get started with the recommendations of the Supreme Court.Gabriels: "We must move across party borders as soon as possible to follow up the recommendations of the Supreme Court. But a decent organization of the court by a supervisor is also a must. For us as liberals, the independence of justice and therefore the separation of powers is a sacred concept, especially if judgments have to be made. But in no way is that independence an excuse for irresponsibility. As a government, we will have to show our commitment in the short term. If everyone does that, including on the ground, we may be able to make sure no one ever has to go through this anymore."