François Bausch is on trial

The Luxembourg District Court has decided to transfer to the criminal chamber a case related to the tragedy of 14 February 2019. At that time, a 48kg landfill exploded in the Waldhof military arsenal, killing two people. It has been established that even before the disaster, the army knew that the warehouse had long since fallen short of modern safety standards.

According to the court, two senior officials may be responsible: François Bausch (Green Party), the Minister of Defence at the time, and Alain Duschène, former Chief of the Army General Staff. They face charges of manslaughter for causing bodily harm. Two other high-ranking officers - the commander of the SEDAL bomb disposal service and his deputy - escaped trial: no charges were found against them.

It is important to emphasise that the court's decision merely records the existence of sufficient grounds for referral to the criminal chamber and does not constitute an admission of guilt. Both defendants retain the presumption of innocence. A few hours after the decision was announced, François Bausch's lawyer stated that an appeal would be filed because the defence "neither legally nor factually shares the court's reasoning".

The tragedy of six years ago is back in the spotlight and has the potential to turn into a high-profile trial, where not only the personal responsibility of former leaders but also the overall security culture of the Luxembourg army will be called into question.