Saint-Gilles prison will stay open until 2028, five years later than planned.
The new closing date was disclosed by the general administrator of the Régie des Bâtiments (federal property manager) Laurent Vrijdaghs during a conference at UCLouvain on Thursday.
Vrijdaghs also revealed the selling price of both Saint-Gilles prison (€100,000) and Forest prison (€50,000). The Régie has been trying to sell both buildings to the Brussels-Capital Region, but the "complicated budgetary situation" means the Region cannot afford to do so.
Saint-Gilles' Urbanism Councillor Catherine Morenville (Ecolo) said the new closure date was "very bad news".
"The closure has been postponed again and again," she told The Brussels Times. "Now they are saying 2028, but even that isn't certain. This prison should have been closed a long time ago. Prisoners are living in disgraceful conditions and Belgium has already been condemned several times."
Council of Europe rulings and 'catastrophes'
Belgium's prison system is in crisis mode, with every institution in the country struggling with overcrowding and understaffing. The Council of Europe (CoE) has released multiple rulings calling on Belgium to rectify the situation.
Haren Prison – known as a "penitentiary village" or "mega prison" – opened in 2022 as a solution to these issues. Prisoners in Forest, Berkendael and Saint-Gilles were supposed to be transferred to the new site from 2022.
However, at least 900 prisoners remain in Saint-Gilles, where the institution has capacity for just 550. There have been multiple reports of detained people sleeping on mattresses on the floor, bedbugs, rats and general dilapidation.
An Amnesty International report published in 2023 criticises Belgium for "insufficient access to basic services – especially medical care and sanitation."
Haren Prison. Credit: Belga / James Arthur Gekiere
So far, the Haren facility has not resolved any of the system's structural issues. The Haren Observatory and the Public Services for Prisons (CSC) described the project as a "catastrophe" even in its early stages.
Belgium's newly sworn-in Federal Government plans to increase prison capacity, disperse prisoners across the country, make employment packages more attractive and "rent" facilities in other countries.
"As long as we continue to expand our prison populations, we will continue to house prisoners in appalling conditions," says Morenville.
