An inmate from Antwerp Prison was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being abused for days by fellow detainees. They have been charged with attempted murder, rape and torture.
The Antwerp police were called to the city's prison on Tuesday evening, where they found a 41-year-old man in his cell with life-threatening injuries. He was taken to hospital shortly after, the Antwerp Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed on Wednesday.
"The investigating judge was ordered to investigate the exact circumstances on Wednesday morning, and we have now requested the arrest of five men," the Prosecutor noted in a statement. The men were all in the same cell as the victim, which has now been sealed. They had reportedly been torturing him for at least three, possibly four days.
After being questioned, three of them were considered perpetrators and have been charged with attempted murder, rape with aggravating circumstances of torture, torture and degrading treatment. The two others are guilty by omission, as "they did not help the man, nor did they report the horror."
The prison system has also launched an internal investigation to check whether all applicable procedures were correctly applied and has vowed to provide psychological follow-ups for staff members involved.
Gruesome scene is result of overcrowding
The joint union front in the prison stated that officers were "confronted with a situation in the prison that defies all imagination."
Images of the torture were eagerly circulated by the perpetrators, but the Prosecutor's Office called for these not to be shared further, "because of their gruesome nature and to avoid victimising the abused person further."
Representatives of the joint union front, which organised a press conference on the incident later on Wednesday, stated that prison management only found out about the incident via this footage. Only then did they carry out a detailed cell inspection.
"The detainee was hidden under a blanket and had been ordered to keep quiet and pretend to be asleep," said Mario Heylen of the socialist trade union ACOD. "It was all well organised."
Credit: Belga
The unions stressed that the fact the torture was able to go on for so long was a "direct consequence of what we as unions have been shouting from the rooftops for years", adding that "overcrowding and understaffing resulted in the gruesome scene." There are currently 12,316 inmates occupying 10,743 places in Belgian prisons, indicating an overcrowding rate of 14.6%.
This was visible in the cell where the incident took place. It was designed for three people but contained six men. The union representatives added that staff hardly have time to carry out checks in the cells as they are already overrun by doing the absolute core tasks.
"There are visitors, doctors and lawyers coming in. People have appointments with management, and psychosocial counselling or have to go to court," Heylen explained. "There have to be dinners and walks. More than a superficial visual check cannot happen," he added. "As long as someone gives signs of life, that is unfortunately enough."
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The unions therefore placed the blame entirely on the Federal Government, both past and present. "This incident is one of many, but at the same time it is the most horrific consequence of a flawed, long-term justice policy," Heylen noted.
The torture started around the same time as prisons started announcing they would no longer be accepting new prisoners. Unions argued that security in correctional facilities can no longer be guaranteed because of the state of overcrowding. It was hoped the action would spur the government to act fast.
