It’s no secret: prison overcrowding is a problem in our country. With prisons overflowing, working conditions for staff are becoming more and more complicated. Recently, the Liège public prosecutor’s office had to make a rather surprising decision.
Since October 25, the conditions for being imprisoned have become very strict. It’s simple: from now on, we are entering prison slowly, in order to avoid overcrowding in prisons, explain our colleagues at Sudinfo.
A striking example is that of Lantin prison, located in the Liège region. And unfortunately, it is impossible to expand them, and the construction of new prisons is very expensive. A figure: that of Antwerp, which should open its doors in 2026, costs more than 200 million euros.
In order to try to breathe new life into the prisons, new measures are being put in place. The latest concerns the temporary suspension of prison tickets. This is a letter which gives the date on which a person, convicted by a court, must go to a prison in order to carry out their sentence.
“This suspension should allow overwhelmed prisons to breathe a little before welcoming new inmates.“, explains an active member of the Liège legal world to Sudinfo.
A directive problem
In a ministerial directive received by the Liège public prosecutor’s office in October, we learn that it asked the sentence execution service of the Liège public prosecutor’s office to stop sending, until November 11, summons to convicts to report to prison.
However, on November 12, the Liège public prosecutor’s office received a new letter. Problem: the suspension of summons is extended until… November 26.
Concretely, this means that some convicts are waiting for the prison where they will go. Contacted by Sudinfo, the spokesperson for the prison administration, Valérie Callebaut, provides details on this measure.
“The execution of sentences of five years or less will be temporarily postponed in order to control prison entry flows. (…) These deferrals cannot apply to those convicted of serious violent offenses (murder, homicide), serious thefts with violence, beatings causing incapacity for work, moral crimes, terrorist offenses and people who represent an immediate danger to society. It also does not apply to people who are already in pre-trial detention at the time of conviction.“.
lantin prison overcrowding
