What is the Liège assizes court hearing in the Alexandra Périlleux case?
The Liège assizes court is hearing the case of Ethan De Graaf, who, according to La Dernière Heure, has admitted killing Alexandra Périlleux while describing the fatal episode as an outburst of anger.
In 30 seconds
- Ethan De Graaf is on trial before the Liège assizes court over the death of Alexandra Périlleux.
- La Dernière Heure reported that the accused acknowledged killing Alexandra Périlleux and invoked an outburst of anger.
- A later hearing focused on Alexandra Périlleux's personality, with relatives describing her as "rêveuse, ouverte et tolérante".
- Belgian assizes courts combine three professional judges with a 12-member citizen jury for the gravest crimes.
Alexandra Périlleux is the victim at the centre of an ongoing homicide trial before the Court of Assizes in Liège, Wallonia. Ethan De Graaf is the accused. La Dernière Heure reported that he acknowledged killing Alexandra Périlleux and described acting in an "accès de colère". The court must move beyond the admission itself and assess the legal qualification, the intent, the weight of witness evidence and, if guilt is established, the sentence. In Belgium, assizes courts hear the gravest crimes with three professional judges and a jury of citizens from the province.
Background
Belgium's assizes system preserves a form of popular jury justice for the most serious crimes. Reform attempts have repeatedly raised the same tension: governments want faster and less costly criminal procedures, while constitutional and democratic arguments defend the jury's role in judging grave offences. The Belgian Constitutional Court's 2017 ruling on assizes reform reinforced that the legislature cannot simply remove the most serious crimes from jury judgment without respecting Article 150 of the Constitution.
What to do
Readers should treat the accused's reported admission as part of an ongoing court process, not as a final judicial ruling. The practical outcome depends on the jury's verdict and any sentencing phase that follows.
Impact
Regional — The direct regional impact is in Liège province, where the assizes court sits and where jurors are drawn from the local population. The case also resonates across Francophone Belgium because the reporting, hearings and victim testimony are being followed through Walloon media.
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This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.