Murder of Charlotte in Anderlecht: Nikos Minas released after 15 years in prison
Sentenced to 20 years in 2014 for the murder of Charlotte, Nikos Minas is now free after 15 years. The victim's family expresses its distress.
Nikos Minas at liberty, fifteen years after Charlotte's death in Anderlecht
According to DHnet, the Tribunal d'Application des Peines (TAP) has decided to remove the electronic bracelet from Nikos Minas, sentenced in 2014 to twenty years' imprisonment for the murder of Charlotte, an 18-year-old woman from Houdeng, in Hainaut.
During the night of 30 to 31 July 2011, Charlotte met Nikos Minas at the Zanzibar bar, at a party in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. At around five o'clock in the morning, they left the establishment together by taxi heading towards the man's home in Anderlecht, who was then 33 years old. There, he had attempted to kiss her by force. Charlotte began to scream. Nikos Minas, under the influence of alcohol and gripped by panic, had strangled her — "to silence her" and not with the intention of killing her, he had claimed before the court of assizes. He then placed the body in a suitcase and abandoned it in an industrial zone near Écaussinnes.
Charlotte's brother expressed his pain last month on social media: "Fifteen years ago, our life was shattered under atrocious circumstances. We lost Charlotte. Since then, we have tried hard to rebuild ourselves, to continue living with this absence and this pain that never disappears. And yet… the murderer who took her life, sentenced to 20 years in prison, is today free after only 15 years."
Marie-Line, Charlotte's mother, met the condemned man on four occasions, according to Sudinfo. "I try to understand, but I will never be able to forgive," she stated. She also acknowledges that the release could have occurred even earlier, whilst noting that she cannot "oppose the law".
As part of his resettlement project, Nikos Minas had initially obtained a position as an apprentice in the same village as the victim's mother. Confronted with Marie-Line's reaction, he ultimately renounced this position.
His freedom remains subject to strict conditions: he is prohibited from approaching the victims' home or making contact with them, and he must continue their compensation. His movements are also regulated — Nikos Minas may only travel to Ostend, according to what was negotiated between the parties.
Source: DHnet