To tackle Belgium's chronic prison overcrowding, hundreds of inmates nearing the end of their sentence have been released early. However, this will not structurally reduce pressure on prisons, unions warn.
Belgium's prisons have been ranked among the most overcrowded in Europe for years now, a trend confirmed again by a Council of Europe (CoE) report in June. Prisoner numbers surpassed 12,000 in a system that only has a capacity for 10,700, resulting in people having to sleep on cell floors.
The issue jumped to the top of the political agenda after an inmate from Antwerp Prison was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being abused by fellow detainees earlier this year, which unions said was due to overcrowding.
Several emergency measures were introduced, including extended penitentiary leave to reduce pressure on prisons, releasing people early who had six months or less left to serve in their sentence.
Effective measure?
Since the start of this year, a total of 594 detainees have been put on extended penitentiary leave. Since the measure was extended, another 139 inmates were told last week they will be allowed to leave prison sooner than expected.
The measure does not apply to serious criminals or sex offenders, and prisoners are only released if they are sure of a place to stay, meaning those without a permanent address remain in prison.
While these people are exonerated from prison early, their leave is monitored monthly. If the evaluation is negative, the leave may be revoked and they could be returned to prison.
The extended penitentiary leave may help to reduce the number of people having to sleep on the ground, which was the measure's primary goal, but it will not structurally reduce the pressure on prisons.
VRT NWS reported that, of the places that became vacant last week, 64 have already been filled by new arrivals. Meanwhile, the screening of all inmates eligible for extended penitentiary leave has been completed, meaning no additional inmates will be released under this condition.
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The real issue lies with the inflow of prisoners, said Robby De Kaey of the socialist trade union ACOD, pointing to the gradual reintroduction of the execution of shorter sentences. "Carrying out those sentences while having no room in the prisons is just stupid. This is how we drive ourselves to destruction."
The unions are therefore calling for outgoing Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt (Open VLD) to prioritise curbing the inflow. However, as the government is currently one of "current affairs" as government formation talks are ongoing, it is unlikely any structural improvements are on the horizon.
