Sideshow trial in Bommeleeër case to start this year

A secondary trial in the complex Bommeleeër case into a series of bombings that happened in Luxembourg in the 1980s is due to open this year, with high-ranking former gendarmerie officers and investigators accused of making false statements during the first trial into the case in 2013 and 2014.

The Judicial Council Chamber of the Court of Appeal in July 2014 suspended the Bommeleeër trial over suspicions that several witnesses made false statements to the court. After a mammoth 177 days in court, the trial came to a halt. In October 2023, the prosecutor’s press office confirmed that proceedings against the eight defendants – five former leaders of the gendarmerie police unit, one former member of a gendarmerie special unit (the BMG), and two former investigators working on the case – would go ahead.

Public broadcaster 100,7 on Friday reported that the trial would begin this year.

The defendants are accused of having entangled themselves in considerable contradictions during the course of the first trial, which eventually led prosecutors to conclude that at least one statement cannot be true.

17 November to 11 December

The trial is scheduled to take place between 17 November and 11 December, according to 100,7. The competent council chamber had already given the green light for an indictment in October last year.

It is currently unclear whether all eight remaining defendants will appear in court in person. At least one of them is considered to be permanently unfit to stand trial for health reasons, according to information obtained by the Luxemburger Wort. Age-related restrictions could also prevent other defendants from attending in person. It is therefore likely that they will be represented by their defence lawyers.

A further suspect – the founder of the BMG unit who played a key role in the investigation at the time – was cleared, however, with the council chambers deciding in two instances that there was insufficient evidence and no legal basis for proceedings against him.

With this secondary trial to start, proceedings against the alleged bombers themselves – Marc Scheer and Jos Wilmes – is also moving closer. This will continue as soon as the criminal investigation into the false statements is closed, according to Wort sources.

About the Bommeleeër

Luxembourg was hit by a spree of 20 bomb explosions between 1984 and 1986, targeting locations including electricity and gas facilities, police stations, newspaper offices, a meeting of the European Council, the airport in Findel and a court building.

The case rumbled on for decades as suspicion turned to members within Luxembourg’s own security services, and later the complicity of investigators and obstacles faced in uncovering what really happened.

In 2005, a witness told then-Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker that he had spotted Prince Jean, the brother of Grand Duke Henri, at the scene of one of the attacks. A secret recording by former security service chief Marco Mille with Juncker about the case and Prince Jean would turn out to bring down Juncker’s government.

Under mounting pressure over security services deemed out of control, Juncker eventually called early elections in 2013 over fears his coalition was about to collapse. The DP-LSAP-Déi Gréng that emerged from this vote remained in power until 2023.

(This story was first published in the Luxemburger Wort. Translated using AI, edited by Cordula Schnuer.)