A Belgian prosecutor has sought a jail term for the director of the Irish College in Leuven in connection with a fire which killed two Irish students in 2014.
At a court hearing in the city, a prosecutor described Malachy Vallely as a "slum landlord" who used his apartment as a "cash cow" for 23 years by renting it back to the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe, of which he is director.
The prosecutor told the court that fire safety in the residence in which the two students were killed had been "completely lacking," and that the building had been inappropriately used to house the students.
Seeking a one year jail term, the prosecutor said that Mr Vallely "should have been an ambassador for his country" but instead acted as an anti-social "slum landlord".
However, lawyers for both Mr Vallely, and the Irish College, have strongly denied that either party should bear responsibility for the deaths of Dace Zarina and Sara Gibadlo on 31 January 2014.
Both lawyers suggested that the two students may have died due to the alcohol consumption since they did not respond as quickly to the alarm when it was raised by another student on the same floor.
Mr Vallely's lawyer told the court that his client had bought the building in 1991 because the Irish College at the time had not been able to get a bank loan to buy a building for students.
He also said that the institute had sought accommodation for students outside the campus to give them more privacy.
He said that all students renting Mr Vallely's apartment would have registered with the local municipality, which in turn would have prompted "200 visits" by police over the years.
None of those visits revealed any shortcomings in fire regulations, he told the court.
Earlier, lawyers representing the family of Ms Gibadlo delivering a withering indictment of fire safety compliance in the residence.
Gert Warson said responsibility for the tragedy lay with the Irish College, and Mr Vallely.
Leuven court was told that there was no smoke alarm in the bedroom in which the two students died, nor was there a smoke alarm in the room of another student whose cigarette, they said, must have started the fire.
Of two fire extinguishers in the building, one was empty and another was ten years old.
The lawyers accused both Mr Vallely and the Irish college of neglect.
The court heard that the two women shared a room on the top floor of the building in the centre of Leuven.
An Irish student in a neighbouring room, Louise McCormack, alerted the two women when the fire broke out in the early hours.
Ms McCormack then fled back to her room and managed to escape through her window on to the roof.
The court heard that Ms Zarina and Ms Gibadlo were later found dead in the adjoining bathroom.
One was found by the toxicologist to have 75% carbon monoxide poisoning. The other had a 38% level of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The court was told the latter probably died from the intense heat.
Mr Warson told the court that the Irish college had renewed the contract for fire extinguishers in the college proper, but had failed to do so for the residence in which the students died.
He said the staircase in the building was old and wooden, saying that a regular staircase should withstand a fire for 30 minutes, whereas this one collapsed in 15 minutes.
As a result, he said, both students were unable to escape.
Mr Warson told the court that the velux window in the students' bedroom was too high for them to escape through.
Lawyers for both Mr Vallely and the Irish College strongly denied the charge that the institute's director was a slum landlord.
They pointed to the fact that the college had paid for the families of the two victims to travel to Belgium and had helped them with the funeral arrangements.
They also drew attention to the fact that negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement had taken place at the institute.
At the start of the hearing, 22-year-old student Shane Bracken, who is charged with involuntary death due to a lack of due caution, said he had gone to bed after a night out.
He told police at the time that he had smoked in his room.
Lawyers for the Gibadlo family said there was no other explanation as to the cause of the blaze that the fact that it had been started by Mr Bracken's cigarette.
The case is being heard in the Leuven Correctional Court before three judges.
The court adjourned until 5 September, when a verdict will be delivered.
