Raids on Cardinal Danneels were illegal claims lawyer

"Huiszoekingen bij kardinaal Danneels waren onwettelijk" - HLN.be

After the judgment of the Supreme Court, it is now definitely established that the raids on 24 June 2010 which were made on the Archbishop's Palace, and on Cardinal Danneels obtained material illegally says Fernand Keuleneer, lawyer for the Archdiocese and Cardinal, commenting on the judgment.

The raids of June 24, 2010 within the context of Operation Chalice by the judicial inquiry that the investigating magistrate in Brussels, Wim De Troy alleged sexual abuse of children and a possible cover-up on the matters within the Catholic Church. "This judgment finally has confirmed what we have been insisting already since June 25 2010, that the Investigating Court undertook an illegal and arbitrary operation," says Keuleneer. "The searches and seizures of the Adriaenssens Commission in Leuven/Louvain have already been annulled." The Brussels High Court will now again have to decide whether the documents that were seized must be removed from the file. "As repeatedly stated, these documents are useless for investigation", the lawyer continued, "and indeed has be understood for a long time. Basically, however, we find that it cannot be the case that a investigating magistrate can collect anything in an illegal manner. An investigation must be conducted in a legally correct manner. Otherwise we end up in a situation where a robbery, while prohibited, can result in the robber keeping the spoils. That's not good for the rule of law."

Cathcon- seems that Danneels' lawyer has in one sense advanced but also suffered a setback, as the way is now open for the use of the documents obtained in the raid.