Flemish Justice Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) is planning to place an additional 4,000 prisoners under electronic monitoring by the end of 2027 in order to cope with prison overcrowding.
Due to prison overcrowding, 3,400 convicted criminals are currently at large while waiting for a cell to become available, Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Monday.
This situation is primarily due to the previous government's decision to enforce sentences shorter than three years. Federal Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) has already proposed replacing these short prison sentences with electronic monitoring or community service more often, but this measure is a federal competency.
In this context, Demir has expressed willingness to give out 4,000 additional electronic bracelets by the end of 2027.
Flemish Justice Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA). Credit: Belga
"To be clear, I am not in favour of this measure. I would prefer criminals to go to prison if a judge decides so," she said. "But if the alternative is that they remain at home and we do not even know where they are, then electronic monitoring is a better option."
Temporary measure
Demir says the use of additional bracelets is conditional on the measure's temporality. She says it should only last until the Federal Government increases the capacity of Belgian prisons and returns foreign criminals to their countries of origin.
The Justice Ministry previously suggested not giving an ankle monitor to rapists, terrorists, undocumented migrants and people who previously violated their conditions. Demir wants also wants to exclude perpetrators of domestic violence from the list.
By imposing a deadline of 2.5 years, Demir hopes to push Verlinden into resolving the structural issues underpinning the prison system, which currently houses 12,834 prisoners but only has capacity for 11,000.
There are currently 5,187 people in Flanders under electronic surveillance.
