Prosecution seeks 19 months to five year sentence

In her requisition, the deputy state prosecutor declared none of the defendants had shown remorse for their inability to tell the truth, and they had not apologised for feeling forced to lie on the stand. A false testimony is a crime under Luxembourg law, carrying prison sentences of five to 10 years, or between three months and 10 years depending on extenuating circumstances. "The way the witnesses acted at the time could only have been out of malice", said the prosecutor. Some said a lot, others said nothing, but it was clear that attempts were made to conceal the truth.

The prosecutor presented her demands in a certain order, starting with "the worst infraction due to its audacity".

A sentence of five years was recommended for former general director of the police, Pierre Reuland. "He openly mocked our institutions", the prosecutor said. During proceedings, he behaved arrogantly and made outrageous statements. Based on the evidence, the prosecution believes Reuland was present during the surveillance of Ben Geiben, an accusation he denies in order to obfuscate why the line of investigation into Geiben was later dropped.
 
Next, the prosecution listed former Sûreté director Armand Schockweiler, who was said to have misled the court. He was in a key position in the Bommeleeër investigation and allegedly held back evidence. However, he displayed a more modest attitude, and was recommended a sentence of 3 years in prison.

97-year-old Aloyse Harpes, former commander at the gendarmerie, was no less implicated than the others, but his age needed to be taken into account for sentencing. The prosecution recommends two years in prison. He is said to have been an indispensable part of the whole matter, as a number of witnesses said that without Harpes, nothing happened.
 
Two further defendants, former police general secretary Guy Stebens and Paul Haan, a former Sûreté officers, were also demonstrably found to have lied, feeling forced to do so due to a misguided sense of loyalty. Stebens is accused of having made contradictory statements as opposed to outright lies. The prosecution recommends 18-month sentences for both individuals.

The prosecution recommends an acquittal for Marcel Weydert, a former member of the Brigade Mobile, who misidentified himself in a photo in 2013. This was later proven to be false as he was not in the country when the photograph was taken.

The lawyers for the civil parties involved, Marc Scheer and Jos Wilmes, are seeking damages worth half a million per each of the six defendants. "They are the most famous and longest-serving defendants inthe country", one lawyer commented. Their false statements in the 2013/2014 trial extended the suffering of the civil parties and their families by over 11 years, as they were falsely labelled as the bombers and recognised in public. Last Sunday marked 18 years since the two were arrested.

The trial is set to continue on Monday rather than Thursday, so the lawyers have time to prepare their defence.