French-speaking liberal party Mouvement Réformateur (MR) places the blame of crime in Belgium on the "inefficiency" of its judicial system, rather than a lack of police resources.
In an interview with the Belgian daily newspaper La Dernière Heure, MR party leader Georges-Louis Bouchez proposed several policies to remedy this perceived inaction from the Federal Government.
"If Belgium is a hub of international crime, according to our analysis, it is because it no longer frightens criminals. This is the result of an overly lax policy in the fight against crime – big or small– and the inefficiency of our justice system. Much more than a lack of resources in the police or justice," the party leader said.
The party wants to reduce the time before suspects are brought before the council chamber. The liberals propose extending the length of an arrest warrant to six months or even one year.
MR also insists on swift trials for "each criminal act" as well as the application of stricter penalties. "In Belgium, you can get out of prison after a third of your sentence. This is too early. We want repeat offenders not to be able to get out of prison before they have served two-thirds of their sentence," Bouchez said.
Among the other proposals put forward by MR in the DH, the party wants a restriction of prison leave for certain detainees and the automatic seizure of all the property of drug traffickers, even if they are not the fruits of their drug trafficking.
