Jails miss well behaved offenders

"Prisons marked by daily violence," headlines De Morgen. Overcrowding is one cause, but trade unions also believe that the increase in violence in Belgian prisons is also prompted by "a growing number of inmates from Eastern Europe with no financial support from outside, who deal in drugs and mobile phones," as one representative explains to the Flemish daily. "This kind of situation leads to the formation of gangs." Another factor is the absence of "well-behaved" offenders, who have been given electronic bracelets that allow them to complete their sentences at home. "When the fighting starts, you cannot expect warders, who only take home 1,400 euros a month, to intervene and risk their lives in the process," remarks one lawyer from Antwerp. In a bid to resolve the problem of prison congestion, on 31 October, Belgium signed an agreement to transfer a number of inmates to Tilburg prison in the Netherlands, reports Le Soir.