Cipiers Antwerp Arresthuis are again sounding the alarm about overcrowding: « We are on our gums » (Antwerp)

More than seven hundred prisoners are now staying in the Arresthuis, while there is only room for 440. That is a record. « There are now 82 ground sleepers in the Begijnenstraat, » says Robby De Kaey (ACOD). « Even in the safety cells, which are used for people with suicidal tendencies, for example, everything is full. »

One of the causes is the extended weekend after the holiday of 1 May. Then many people are brought in and little leaves. Although De Kaey also sees a link with the recent promotions from the magistrate.

Scheldtirades

The situation is so poignant that there are no more mattresses anymore. « There is no room anywhere, » says Steve Palinckx (ACOD). « People sleep with their heads next to the toilet bowl. That is not fun, not even for a prisoner. They too have the right to a decent life. » Palinckx says that the guards of the arrest house can no longer guarantee that human existence. « That is the victim of our people. They get the Scheldtirades and aggression to the head. »

Read too. Cipier seriously injured in head after attack by prisoner: « Colleagues are despondent »

The fact that there will be a new prison in the province of Antwerp in a good year, the Cipiers gives little hope. There will also be an impact on the closure of the prison in Hoogstraten. As a result, the extra places are in danger of part of becoming a measure for nothing.

People sleep with their head next to the toilet bowl. That is not fun, not even for a prisoner. They too are entitled to a decent life

Steve Palinckx

Trade unionist ACOD

« It is normal for politics to create a framework in which the magistrature can do in any other way in provisional detention or penalty measurement, » says De Kaey. In the trade unions, they would rather have people with a punishment of three years, for example, who would serve that punishment at home with an ankle band. « But within the current political climate we cannot expect those changes quickly. »

In the meantime, one of the staff of the arrest house wrote an open letter. A laundry list of incidents is listed in that letter. Much more than getting the media, that’s how it sounds.

Everything that is on the table now makes work. We have been on our gums for a long time. Nevertheless, we continue to keep things going

Staff member

Arrest house Antwerp

« In the name of all the staff working in the Belgian prisons, I make the call to finally and please work on solutions, » the letter says. « Everything that is on the table now, make work. We are on our gums, for a long time. We will continue to keep things going. Listen for once to the call we make through the strikes, but to which no hearing is given. Ensure a safer working environment. Invest in recruitments and make the job attractive to the job.

Whether there will be actions in Antwerp is not clear for the time being.