Ostend serial rapist on the lam for six years held in Poland

The federal police team that goes after escaped criminals, FAST, has arrested a 30-year-old man who had been sentenced in absentia to 25 years in prison for raping five women in Ostend. The man, Hayk Terterian, resurfaced last week in Poland and subsequently landed in prison. Belgium then requested his extradition, according to a Tuesday report in Het Laatste Nieuws, confirmed to Belga news agency by Public Prosecutor Frank Demeester.

Terterian was on the “Belgium’s most wanted” list of FAST and on the European most wanted criminals list. He was sentenced in absentia in 2015 to 25 years in prison for rapes committed in 2011 and 2012 and placed at the disposal of the sentence-enforcement court for 15 years. Since he had been sentenced in absentia, he could appeal against the sentence, in which case a new trial would be held.

FAST had been on the serial rapist’s trail since January 2013. He was spotted in many countries, but always managed to elude his pursuers. However, one week ago, police in the Polish town of Szczecin alerted the Belgian authorities that he had been arrested for grievous bodily harm while in possession of false papers. He was recognized and formally identified thanks to his fingerprints.


The Brussels Times


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