Police from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands need help to identify 22 dead women and girls
Police in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands are asking for the public’s help to identify 22 women and girls who they believe have been murdered.
The bodies were discovered across the three European countries between October 1976 and August 2019.
This tattoo was found on a woman’s left forearm. Her body was discovered in the Groot Schijn River in Antwerp, Belgium, in June 1992. Pic: Interpol
“Most of the 22 victims died violently, and some were also abused or starved before they died,” said Carina van Leeuwen and Martin de Wit in a statement by the Netherlands police.
They added: “Partly because the women are likely from countries other than where they were found, their identities have not yet been established.
“It is possible that their bodies were left in our countries to impede criminal investigations.”
A suitcase containing the torso of a female was found in a canal in Amsterdam in September 1992. The victim’s hands, legs and other body parts were discovered elsewhere. Pic: Interpol
Despite extensive police investigations, the victims have never been identified, and evidence suggests they could be foreign nationals and may have come from other countries.
Who they are, where they are from and why they were in these three countries is unknown.
Details about the cases – some of which have remained unsolved for decades – have been revealed in the hope that someone might recognise a victim.
“We want to stress that we are looking for names,” said Carolien Opdecam, of the Belgian police force.
“The victim’s identity is often the key to unlocking the mysteries of a case.”
One victim, aged between 14 to 24 years old, who was found in the Albert Canal in Belgium, near the Dutch border, in May 2009, had a floral pattern on two of her false nails. Pic: Interpol
With some of the murdered women believed to have come from specific regions in Eastern Europe, detectives hope identifying them may also provide evidence on the perpetrators of these crimes.
Anja Allendorf, of the German police, said: “In similar investigations, establishing the victim’s identity ultimately has led to the arrest of a suspect.”
The remains of a female aged between 16 and 35 were found in this bag found dumped in the IJ River in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in May 2004. Pic: Interpol
The police forces of all three countries have come together to launch Operation Identify Me through Interpol.
The international police group has for the first time made public some details of so-called black notices which are used to seek information and intelligence on unidentified bodies and to determine the circumstances surrounding the death.
One victim, believed to be around 20 years old, was wearing these size 38 Roberto Santi sandals when her partially burnt body was discovered in a pit in the town of Todtnau, in southern Germany, in July 1997. Pic: Interpol
Black notices are usually circulated internally among Interpol’s global network of police forces.
The cases include a woman with a flower tattoo who was found in the Groot Schijn River in Antwerp, Belgium; the discovery of a body which had been burned in a forest in Altena-Bergfeld in Germany; and the remains of a female believed to be 16-35 years old which were found in a bag in the IJ River in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The facial reconstruction of a woman whose body was found buried in a forest northwest of Berlin, Germany, in November 1998. She was dressed in men’s clothing. Pic: Interpol
Details on each case have been made available on the Interpol website showing facial reconstructions of some of the victims, as well as videos and pictures of items such as jewellery and clothing which were discovered at the various sites where their remains were dumped.
It also includes information such as their estimated age, hair and eye colour and other physical characteristics such as tattoos.
The facial reconstruction of a victim, aged between 16 and 22, whose body was found in a red suitcase in a canal in Schiedam, the Netherlands, in October 2005. Pic: Interpol
Members of the public, particularly those who remember a missing friend or relative, are being invited to contact their national police should they have any information.
Tooth jewellery in the form of a diamond-like rhinestone was found on a victim whose torched body was found in a forest in Altena-Bergfeld, Germany, in June 1997. Pic: Interpol
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This bracelet is believed to belong to a victim whose body was found wrapped in plastic in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, in January 1995. Pic: Interpol
“Black Notices allow law enforcement agencies to collaborate and share information across borders, ultimately helping to bring closure to the families of the deceased and bring offenders to justice,” said Susan Hitchin, coordinator of Interpol’s DNA Unit.
“Advances in technology across the different fields of forensic human identification have been significant in helping solve cold cases.”
More than 100 politicians from 24 different countries, including the UK, the US and the EU, have written a joint letter condemning China over the “arbitrary detention and unfair trial” of Jimmy Lai, a tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner.
The parliamentarians, led by senior British Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, are “urgently” demanding the immediate release of the 77-year-old British citizen, who has been held in solitary confinement at a maximum security prison in Hong Kong for almost four years.
The letter – which will be embarrassing for Beijing – was made public on the eve of Mr Lai’s trial resuming and on the day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a G20 summit of economic powers in Brazil.
It also comes as Hong Kong jailed 45 pro-democracy activists.
The group of politicians, who also include representatives from Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, Ukraine and France, said Mr Lai’s treatment was “inhumane”.
“He is being tried on trumped-up charges arising from his peaceful promotion of democracy, his journalism and his human rights advocacy,” they wrote in the letter, which has been seen by Sky News.
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“The world is watching as the rule of law, media freedom and human rights in Hong Kong are eroded and undermined.
“We stand together in our defence of these fundamental freedoms and in our demand that Jimmy Lai be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Sir Keir raised the case of Mr Lai during remarks released at the start of his talks with Mr Xi on Monday – the first meeting between a British prime minister and the Chinese leader in six years.
The prime minister could be heard expressing concerns about reports of Mr Lai’s deteriorating health. However, he did not appear to call for his immediate release.
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Ms Kearns, the MP for Rutland and Stamford in the East Midlands, said the meeting had been an opportunity to be unequivocal that the UK expects Mr Lai to be freed.
“Jimmy Lai is being inhumanely persecuted for standing up for basic human values,” she said in a statement, released alongside the letter.
“He represents the flame of freedom millions seek around the world.
“We have a duty to fight for Jimmy Lai as a British citizen, and to take a stand against the Chinese Community Party’s erosion of rule of law in Hong Kong.
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“This letter represents the strength of international feeling and commitment of parliamentarians globally to securing Jimmy Lai’s immediate release and return to the UK with his family.”
Mr Lai was famously the proprietor of the Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily in Hong Kong, which wrote scathing reports about the local authorities and the communist government in mainland China after Britain handed back the territory to Beijing in 1997.
The tabloid was a strong supporter of pro-democracy protesters who took to the streets of Hong Kong to demonstrate against the government in 2019.
But the media mogul was arrested the following year – one of the first victims of a draconian new security law imposed by the Chinese Communist Party.
His newspaper was closed after his bank accounts were frozen.
Mr Lai has since been convicted of illegal assembly and fraud. He is now on trial for sedition over articles published in Apple Daily.
World
Hong Kong jails 45 pro-democracy activists after accusing them of trying to overthrow the city’s government
Forty-five pro-democracy activists have been jailed in Hong Kong’s largest ever national security trial.
The activists sentenced with jail terms ranging from four years to ten years were accused of conspiracy to commit subversion after holding an unofficial primary election in Hong Kong in 2020.
They were arrested in 2021.
Hong Kong authorities say the defendants were trying to overthrow the territory’s government.
Democracy activist Benny Tai received the longest sentence of ten years. He became the face of the movement when thousands of protesters took to the city’s streets during the “Umbrella Movement” demonstrations.
However, Hong Kong officials accused him of being behind the plan to organise elections to select candidates.
Tai had pleaded guilty, his lawyers argued he believed his election plan was allowed under the city’s Basic Law.
Another prominent activist Joshua Wong received a sentence of more than four years.
Joshua Wong was sentenced to more than four years Pic: AP
Wong became one of the leading figures in the protests. His activism started as a 15 year old when he spearheaded a huge rally against a government plan to change the school curriculum.
Then in 2019 Hong Kong erupted in protests after the city’s government proposed a bill that would allow extradition to mainland China. It peaked in June 2019 when Amnesty International reported that up to two million people marched on the streets, paralysing parts of Hong Kong’s business district.
The extradition bill was later dropped but it had ignited a movement demanding political change and freedom to elect their own leaders in Hong Kong.
China’s central government called the protests “riots” that could not continue.
Hong Kong introduced a national security law in the aftermath of the protests.
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A woman is taken away by police outside the court Pic: Reuters
The US has called the trial “politically motivated”.
Dozens of family and friends of the accused were waiting for the verdict outside the West Kowloon Magistrates Court.
British citizen and media mogul Jimmy Lai is due to testify on Wednesday.
Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in Brazil, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told China’s President Xi Jinping he’s concerned about the health of Lai.
He faces charges of fraud and the 2019 protests. He has also been charged with sedition and collusion with foreign forces.
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