Belgium Tightens Grip: ’Cocaine King’ Faces Ultra-Strict Prison Regime

Currently, major criminals are incarcerated in various prisons, including the one in Haren, located in the Brussels region. This establishment houses in its "Ocean House" block six high-security cells "from which the inmates never leave," says La Dernière Heure. According to a report by the Central Prison Monitoring Council, carried out two years ago, the detention conditions there are particularly strict. Visits, including unsupervised visits to spend an intimate moment, take place within the unit itself.

Rudimentary comfort, a 22 cm thick mattress placed on a metal base anchored to the floor to prevent it from being lifted, a fixed stainless steel sanitary block with a toilet and a small sink, no mirror, opaque window panes, windows equipped with exterior shutters, most of which are partially or fully lowered, armored cell doors lined inside with an American grid with a plexiglass, an American grid with three openings or hatches, an exterior door equipped with two hatches, one at the top and the other at the bottom of the door... Major criminals are placed in high-security cells.

The shower room is located in the corridor of the disciplinary wing. Its size varies greatly from very large to very small. No space to hang or place a bath towel. "A 12-minute shower per day can be taken," the CCSP observed. The management specifies that no fixed schedule is planned for this purpose. The exercise yards are "too small," as they consist of cages surrounded by high walls (between 3 and 5 m high) in concrete, surmounted by grids arranged on an imposing metal structure, horizontally, over the entire surface.

"This space is, however, much too small for the inmates to be able to walk underneath. They can take shelter there, no more. The exercise yards are not equipped with any benches or surface on which the inmates could sit, no urinal, no trash can or ashtray. Some exercise yards are now equipped with a basketball hoop. Only one ball was seen by the delegation during the visit. The ground is littered with cigarette butts and the yard is already greenish or blackened in places, giving it an even more gloomy appearance," adds the CCSP.

Why highly secured cells? "We want to deprive major criminals of their power - even behind bars - while better protecting our prison staff. That’s why Minister Verlinden wants to promote a stricter and more thoughtful detention regime and enshrine it in law. Other countries, such as Italy, the Netherlands and France, have good practices in this area," explains Tieneke Van Iseghem, the minister’s spokeswoman. And she concludes: "With a multidisciplinary working group (composed of representatives from the police, the public prosecutor’s office, the prison administration and the State Security Service), we are currently examining how we can also anchor in our country an approach that curbs criminal activities while ensuring safer working conditions for our prison officers."