Nijvel gang
Encyclopedia
The Nijvel gang or the Brabant killers ("De Bende van Nijvel" or "de Bende" in Dutch, "Les Tueurs du Brabant" or "les Tueurs fous du Brabant wallon" or "les Tueurs fous du Brabant" in French) is a group or groups thought to be responsible for the "Brabant massacres", a series of violent attacks that occurred mostly in the province of Brabant in Belgium between 1982 and 1985, in which 28 people died and over 20 others were injured. Money taken was sometimes found dumped.
The gang was named for the city of Nivelles
(Nijvel in Dutch), in Walloon Brabant
province
, where the gang's robbery of an arms dealer resulted in the death of two civilians and a police officer.
The gang carried out armed robberies of restaurants, stores, supermarkets and one weapons depot. What set the gang apart was their readiness to commit murder for no reason and their apparent lack of a normal criminal orientation towards stealing the maximum amount of money for the minimum risk. This led to suspicions that it represented an effort to destabilize the country coming from disgruntled members of the Belgian Gendarmerie
("Rijkswacht" in Dutch, "Gendarmerie" in French), a paramilitary police force then supervised by the Belgian Minister of Defense. Some of the weapons used to carry out the murders had been stolen from a Belgian Gendarmerie arsenal in 1979.
According to the survivors' eyewitness testimony, the gang was composed of three recurring gangleaders, assisted by a larger group of changing people. The three gangleaders were commonly called the Giant (because of his height), the Killer (who killed 23 out of the total 28 victims) and the Old Man (because of his age). However some of the earlier crimes are mainly linked by the weapons used or stolen which leaves open a possibility of the guns having been previously rented or sold and hence stolen and used by otherwise unconnected criminal gangs or individuals before passing into the hands of the actual Nijvel gang.
The identity and the whereabouts of the killers remain unknown.
organization Westland New Post
(WNP), which aimed to destabilize Belgian society and provoke civil unrest in order "to establish a government lead by ultra-conservatives of the Parti Social-Chrétien
".
This theory is based on rumours about the neo-Nazi connections of the Gendarmerie in Brussels
as well as on the "military precision" of the attacks. All Gendarmerie officers were trained in military law enforcement and commando actions.
The controversial Belgian nobleman Benoit de Bonvoisin
, known as the "Black Baron", was named as one of the possible financiers of the Nivelles gang. It has been suggested that the death of Westland New Post leader Paul Latinus the 24 of April may 1984 have actually been a camouflaged murder in suicide by the Nivelles Gang.
The gang was also mentioned as linked to the communist CCC (Cellules Communistes Combattantes), though that organization's methods (bombings in which authorities were notified in advance) were not used in these crimes.
" network SDRA8
(Gladio) — operating as a secret branch of the Belgian military service
— the Belgian Gendarmerie SDRA6 and the US secret service Defense Intelligence Agency
(DIA).
Some high-placed investigators believed—and some still believe—that these crimes were "pre-emptive actions" against the communist
threat in Western Europe
. These actions were hence linked to Operation Gladio
, a large paramilitary
network, created and supported by NATO, which was active in many European countries to counter all kinds of communist operations. However, the Belgian parliamentary inquiry into Gladio found no substantive evidence that Gladio was involved in any terrorist acts or that criminal groups had infiltrated the stay-behind network.http://www.senate.be/lexdocs/S0523/S05231297.pdf
based on one of Belgium's most famous urban legends, the so-called pink ballets ("roze balletten" in Dutch). These "Pink Ballets" were supposedly sex parties, mostly with young underaged girls and boys, which several eminent members of the Belgian high society were said to have participated in, including noblemen, high civil servants, politicians, ministers, business leaders and policemen.
Real-estate magnate Jacques Fourez and his secretary Elise Dewit, who were killed by the Nijvel gang in 1983, were supposed to have secret tapes of these parties. The killings of Jacques van Camp, Léon Finné and Constantin Angelou were also brought into connection with the Pink Ballets.
's core businesses in Cold War
Europe. The murdered banker Léon Finné (in Overijse
) was involved in illegal gun traffic.
In 2005, after an anonymous tip, the investigators hoped to find the buried corpse of one of the three gang leaders in the same forest, without any success.
In 2006, in the south of France, the houses of several notorious criminals were searched in order to find a new lead. Among these suspects was the criminal and former Gendarmerie member Madani Bouhouche
, who died a few months before the house-search in a chainsaw accident while cutting a tree in his garden.http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=24&story_id=26594&name=Secrets+untold
In January 2009, searches targeting weaponry lead to the discovery of human bones, speculated to be those of the gang member wounded by police. However the remains are now believed to be far older .
In 2015, all these crimes will expire and no judicial measures against the gang will be possible. The crimes would have expired in the year 2000, but the Belgian Parliament passed two special acts to extend the investigation.
The gang was named for the city of Nivelles
Nivelles
Nivelles is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the old communes of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstreux....
(Nijvel in Dutch), in Walloon Brabant
Walloon Brabant
Walloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia in Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut . Its capital is Wavre...
province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
, where the gang's robbery of an arms dealer resulted in the death of two civilians and a police officer.
The gang carried out armed robberies of restaurants, stores, supermarkets and one weapons depot. What set the gang apart was their readiness to commit murder for no reason and their apparent lack of a normal criminal orientation towards stealing the maximum amount of money for the minimum risk. This led to suspicions that it represented an effort to destabilize the country coming from disgruntled members of the Belgian Gendarmerie
Belgian Gendarmerie
The Gendarmerie was the former paramilitary police force of Belgium. The Gendarmerie became a civilian police organisation in 1992, a status retained until January 1, 2001, when it was, together with the other existing police forces in Belgium, abolished and replaced by the Local Police and...
("Rijkswacht" in Dutch, "Gendarmerie" in French), a paramilitary police force then supervised by the Belgian Minister of Defense. Some of the weapons used to carry out the murders had been stolen from a Belgian Gendarmerie arsenal in 1979.
According to the survivors' eyewitness testimony, the gang was composed of three recurring gangleaders, assisted by a larger group of changing people. The three gangleaders were commonly called the Giant (because of his height), the Killer (who killed 23 out of the total 28 victims) and the Old Man (because of his age). However some of the earlier crimes are mainly linked by the weapons used or stolen which leaves open a possibility of the guns having been previously rented or sold and hence stolen and used by otherwise unconnected criminal gangs or individuals before passing into the hands of the actual Nijvel gang.
The identity and the whereabouts of the killers remain unknown.
1982
- March 13: theft at a retail store in DinantDinantDinant is a Walloon city and municipality located on the River Meuse in the Belgian province of Namur, Belgium. The Dinant municipality includes the old communes of Anseremme, Bouvignes-sur-Meuse, Dréhance, Falmagne, Falmignoul, Foy-Notre-Dame, Furfooz, Lisogne, Sorinnes, and Thynes.-Origins to...
, Belgium. A hunting rifle was stolen. No people killed. The rifle was never used during the attacks, but was found five years later, together with the other weapons of the gang. - August 14: armed robbery of a grocery store in MaubeugeMaubeugeMaubeuge is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is situated on both banks of the Sambre , east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border.-History:...
, France. Tea and wine were stolen. No people killed, two French Gendarmerie-officers wounded. - September 30: armed robbery of a weapons dealer in WavreWavreWavre is a town and municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant, of which it is the capital.Wavre is located in the Dyle valley. Most of its inhabitants speak French as mother tongue and are called "Wavriens" and "Wavriennes"...
, Belgium. Fifteen firearms were stolen, including several machine guns. One policeman was killed, two other wounded. - December 23: armed robbery of a restaurant in BeerselBeerselBeersel is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Alsemberg, Beersel proper, Dworp, Huizingen and Lot. On January 1, 2006 Beersel had a total population of 23,433. The total area is 30.01 km² which gives a population density of 781...
, Belgium. Coffee and wine were stolen. One person was killed, he was tortured to death.
1983
- January 12: car-jacking of a cab BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. The car was found in MonsMonsMons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
, Belgium. The purse of the taxi driver was stolen, the taxi driver was killed. - February 11: armed robbery of a supermarket in RixensartRixensartRixensart is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Rixensart had a total population of 21,355. The total area is 17.54 km² which gives a population density of 1,217 inhabitants per km²....
, Belgium. Less than 18,000.00 $ was stolen. No people killed, several wounded. - February 25: armed robbery of a supermarket in UccleUccleUccle or Ukkel is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.Uccle is known for its well-to-do areas, its green spots and its high rental rates.-History:...
, Belgium. Less than 16,000.00 $ was stolen. No people killed. - March 3: armed robbery of a supermarket in HalleHalle, BelgiumHalle , is a Belgian city and municipality in the district Halle-Vilvoorde of the province Flemish Brabant. The city is located on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal and on the Flemish side of the language border that separates Flanders and Wallonia...
, Belgium. Less than 18,000.00 $ was stolen. One staff member was killed. - May 7: armed robbery of a supermarket in Houdeng-GougniesLa LouvièreLa Louvière is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. La Louvière's municipality includes the old communes of Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Saint-Vaast, Trivières, Boussoit, Houdeng-Aimeries, Houdeng-Gœgnies, Maurage, and Strépy-Bracquegnies...
, Belgium. Less than 22,000.00 $ was stolen. No people killed. - September 10: armed robbery of a textile factory in TemseTemseTemse is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Elversele, Steendorp, Temse proper and Tielrode. On January 1, 2006 Temse had a total population of 26,287...
, Belgium. Seven bullet-proof jackets were stolen. One worker was killed, his wife severely wounded. - September 17: armed robbery of a supermarket in NivellesNivellesNivelles is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the old communes of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstreux....
, Belgium. Nothing was stolen. Three people were killed. - October 2: armed robbery of a restaurant in OhainOhainOhain may refer to:* Ohain, Belgium* Ohain, Nord, France* Hans von Ohain, one of the inventors of the jet engine...
, Belgium. Nothing was stolen. The owner was killed. - October 7: armed robbery of a supermarket in BeerselBeerselBeersel is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Alsemberg, Beersel proper, Dworp, Huizingen and Lot. On January 1, 2006 Beersel had a total population of 23,433. The total area is 30.01 km² which gives a population density of 781...
, Belgium. Less than 35,000.00 $ was stolen. One customer was killed. - December 1: armed robbery of a jeweler in AnderluesAnderluesAnderlues is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Anderlues had a total population of 11,578. The total area is 17.02 km² which gives a population density of 680 inhabitants per km². Its postcode is 6150....
, Belgium. Some low-value jewels were stolen. Two people were killed.
1985
After months of silence, the gang began a new series of robberies. The attacks of 1985 were the most violent since the beginning, in 1982.- Friday September 27: more or less 20:00 armed robbery and a killing in the Delhaize supermarket on rue de la Graignette in Braine-l'AlleudBraine-l'AlleudBraine-l'Alleud is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant, about 20 kilometers south of Brussels. The Braine-l'Alleud municipality includes the former municipalities of Braine-l'Alleud proper, Ophain-Bois-Seigneur-Isaac, and Lillois-Witterzée. It also includes...
. Less than $6,000.00 was stolen. Three people were killed, two people wounded. - Friday September 27: more or less 20:30 (only 15 to 25 minutes after the first attack that night) armed robbery and a killing in the Delhaize supermarket on Brusselsesteenweg in OverijseOverijseOverijse is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the town of Overijse, and the communities of Eizer, Maleizen, Jezus-Eik, Tombeek and Terlanen. On December 31, 2008 Overijse had a total population of 24,410...
. Less than $25,000.00 was stolen. Five people were killed, one person wounded. - Saturday November 9 more or less 19:30 armed robbery and a killing in the Delhaize supermarket on Parklaan in AalstAalst, BelgiumAalst is a city and municipality on the Dender River, 19 miles northwest from Brussels. It is located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Aalst itself and the villages of Baardegem, Erembodegem, Gijzegem, Herdersem, Hofstade,...
. Less than $25,000.00 was stolen. Eight people were killed, a few more people wounded.
Militant groups
The gang was mentioned as linked to the neo-NaziNeo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
organization Westland New Post
Westland New Post
Westland New Post was a Belgian extreme right-wing organization founded in March 1981 by Paul Latinus and members of the Front de la Jeunesse...
(WNP), which aimed to destabilize Belgian society and provoke civil unrest in order "to establish a government lead by ultra-conservatives of the Parti Social-Chrétien
Humanist Democratic Centre
The Humanist Democratic Centre is a Francophone Christian democratic political party in Belgium. The cdH currently participates in the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, the Government of the French Community and the Walloon Government.- History :...
".
This theory is based on rumours about the neo-Nazi connections of the Gendarmerie in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
as well as on the "military precision" of the attacks. All Gendarmerie officers were trained in military law enforcement and commando actions.
The controversial Belgian nobleman Benoit de Bonvoisin
Benoit de Bonvoisin
-Biography:He is the grandson of Alexandre Galopin , former director and governor of the Société Générale de Belgique , and son of baron Pierre de Bonvoison -Biography:He is the grandson of Alexandre Galopin (1879-1944), former director and governor of the Société Générale de Belgique (the main...
, known as the "Black Baron", was named as one of the possible financiers of the Nivelles gang. It has been suggested that the death of Westland New Post leader Paul Latinus the 24 of April may 1984 have actually been a camouflaged murder in suicide by the Nivelles Gang.
The gang was also mentioned as linked to the communist CCC (Cellules Communistes Combattantes), though that organization's methods (bombings in which authorities were notified in advance) were not used in these crimes.
Gladio
The massacre of Brabant has also been linked to a conspiracy among the Belgian "stay-behindStay-behind
In a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organisations in its own territory, for use in the event that the territory is overrun by an enemy. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement, or would act as spies from behind enemy lines...
" network SDRA8
Belgian stay-behind network
The Belgian stay-behind network, colloquially called "Gladio" was a secret mixed civilian and military unit, trained to form a resistance movement in the event of a Soviet invasion and part of a network of similar organizations in NATO-countries...
(Gladio) — operating as a secret branch of the Belgian military service
Belgian General Information and Security Service
The General Intelligence and Security Service , known in Dutch as Algemene Dienst Inlichting en Veiligheid , and in French as Service Général du Renseignement et de la Sécurité is the Belgian military intelligence service under responsibility of the Minister of National Defense...
— the Belgian Gendarmerie SDRA6 and the US secret service Defense Intelligence Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
(DIA).
Some high-placed investigators believed—and some still believe—that these crimes were "pre-emptive actions" against the communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
threat in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. These actions were hence linked to Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
, a large paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
network, created and supported by NATO, which was active in many European countries to counter all kinds of communist operations. However, the Belgian parliamentary inquiry into Gladio found no substantive evidence that Gladio was involved in any terrorist acts or that criminal groups had infiltrated the stay-behind network.http://www.senate.be/lexdocs/S0523/S05231297.pdf
Pink ballets
The Belgian tabloids also developed another conspiracy theoryConspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
based on one of Belgium's most famous urban legends, the so-called pink ballets ("roze balletten" in Dutch). These "Pink Ballets" were supposedly sex parties, mostly with young underaged girls and boys, which several eminent members of the Belgian high society were said to have participated in, including noblemen, high civil servants, politicians, ministers, business leaders and policemen.
Real-estate magnate Jacques Fourez and his secretary Elise Dewit, who were killed by the Nijvel gang in 1983, were supposed to have secret tapes of these parties. The killings of Jacques van Camp, Léon Finné and Constantin Angelou were also brought into connection with the Pink Ballets.
Organized crime
This theory is linked to illegal gun-running, which was in the 1980s one of the mafiaMafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
's core businesses in Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
Europe. The murdered banker Léon Finné (in Overijse
Overijse
Overijse is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the town of Overijse, and the communities of Eizer, Maleizen, Jezus-Eik, Tombeek and Terlanen. On December 31, 2008 Overijse had a total population of 24,410...
) was involved in illegal gun traffic.
Recent events
In 2004, the police found some abandoned weaponry, clothing and jewelry in the Bois de la Houssière, the forest where the three main suspects were spotted for the last time in 1985.In 2005, after an anonymous tip, the investigators hoped to find the buried corpse of one of the three gang leaders in the same forest, without any success.
In 2006, in the south of France, the houses of several notorious criminals were searched in order to find a new lead. Among these suspects was the criminal and former Gendarmerie member Madani Bouhouche
Madani Bouhouche
Madani Bouhouche was a former Belgian gendarme with the Belgian Gendarmerie, convicted in 1995 for various crimes, including two murders.-Life and career:...
, who died a few months before the house-search in a chainsaw accident while cutting a tree in his garden.http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=24&story_id=26594&name=Secrets+untold
In January 2009, searches targeting weaponry lead to the discovery of human bones, speculated to be those of the gang member wounded by police. However the remains are now believed to be far older .
In 2015, all these crimes will expire and no judicial measures against the gang will be possible. The crimes would have expired in the year 2000, but the Belgian Parliament passed two special acts to extend the investigation.
External links
- www.bendevannijvel.com
- www.bendevannijvel.com/forum » Forum
- Belgian Chamber of Representatives, parliamentary investigation into the Nijvel gang.
- Belgian Chamber of Representatives, parliamentary investigation into banditism.
- Belgian Senate, parliamentary investigation into Gladio.
- Belgian Senate, parliamentary investigation into private militias.
- Forum about "Gang of Nijvel"
- http://tueriesdubrabant.be.cx