Even if she stays away from Arlon, it is hard to see how she will avoid that fate completely. The trial is being conducted in a blaze of publicity and, with more than 500 witnesses scheduled to appear, will probably run for three months.To what end? While Dutroux seems destined to spend the rest of his life behind bars, the public’s final verdict on the Belgian justice system is more difficult to predict.. President Vladimir Putin sprang his second surprise in only a week yesterday when he nominated Mikhail Fradkov, a former foreign trade minister and currently Russia’s ambassador to the European Union, to be the country’s next prime minister. Sabine Dardenne, now 20, has told how she was manipulated into believing that her parents had refused to pay a ransom for her. Dutroux, she was told, was protecting her against those who wanted her dead.

There was no sign of Ms Dardenne yesterday in Arlon, though she intends to confront Dutroux in court.Laetitia Delhez says she cannot face re-living her ordeal. The presiding judge, St?ane Goux, turned to a defence lawyer, Xavier Magn? with the words: “M. Magn? your client is dozing off.”Later, Pol Marchal, father of An, said: “As ever, [Dutroux] is someone who does what he wants, he plays his role. I don’t think we are going to find out all the truth in a few months, but I hope we find some of the truth.” Dutroux had, he said, refused to meet his eye.The suffering of the bereaved families is mirrored by that of the two survivors. No one knows who took the youngest girls or how they died.The incompetence of the police, who had Dutroux under surveillance while the girls were in captivity, fuelled claims that they were laying off because their prime suspect had high-level protectors.On the eve of the trial, Dutroux sent a letter to the VTM television station saying he was part of a criminal network that extended into Belgian law enforcement, heaping blame on Nihoul.Then, during the selection of two juries of 12 members (one is a reserve) from a pool of 180 people, Dutroux slumped forward over the desk, his head in his hands. By blaming their fate on others, notably Weinstein, who is dead, Dutroux has left a host of questions hanging over the trial.

He is also accused of murdering an accomplice, Bernard Weinstein, in the same manner, after torturing him to discover the location of a stash of money.But Dutroux, also arraigned on multiple counts of kidnap, rape and imprisonment, has denied abducting or murdering the two eight-year-olds, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo. He is charged with the murder of An Marchal, aged 17, and Eefje Lambrecks, aged 19, who were kidnapped in 1995 near Ostend and who may have been buried alive while drugged. That meant that journalists, confined to a meeting room with three large video screens, peered at a grainy image of the accused, dressed in a dark jacket. Of the four, Nihoul is the only one allowed bail.Dutroux spoke only to confirm his identity, age, place of birth and address – in his case Arlon prison. But, through his lawyer, he objected to the dissemination of his picture, winning backing for his privacy plea. Security is tight – one person was arrested yesterday for erecting a noose and gibbet outside the courthouse.Dutroux sat behind bullet-proof glass, flanked by his co-defendants: Michelle Martin, his estranged second wife; Michel Leli?e, a drifter and drug addict; and Michel Nihoul, a businessman and police informant. One opinion poll showed that almost nine out of 10 Belgians believe the truth about the case will never come to light, while 68 per cent think Dutroux had high-level protection.