Images that, according to the Gazet van Antwerpen, started circulating in the crime scene on Tuesday evening, show how detainees in the overcrowded prison in the Begijnenstraat in Antwerp torture and rape a cellmate with a broomstick. The victim is badly injured and naked. The torturers also force the man to eat a sandwich with their feces.
The torture victim, RJ, was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition on Tuesday evening, after the prison discovered what had happened in the cell. J. is also said to have suffered serious burns. The fellow inmates who abused him called him a pedophile, but according to our information that is not correct. The victim was in custody for the attempted murder of his ex’s new boyfriend.
Cell sealed
“The management of the detention center in the Begijnenstraat in Antwerp was informed of gruesome, disgusting facts on Tuesday evening. The emergency services were immediately called to the scene. The victim has been admitted to hospital and is in danger of dying,” said Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt (Open VLD).
What the judicial qualifications are towards the cellmates and who has what share in these, according to Van Tigchelt, “very serious and degrading facts”, must become apparent from the investigation by the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office. The prison system has also started an internal investigation to determine whether all applicable procedures were applied correctly.
In an internal letter to staff and unions, prison director An Janssens writes that she has never experienced such a serious case of violence among detainees. The five suspected torturers have been distributed to other cells, pending investigation. The cell where the victim was tortured for up to three days has been sealed for trace evidence.
Years of mismanagement
The torture allegedly started before the strike, but continued during and after the strike without anyone noticing or intervening. Kathleen Van De Vijver, interim director general of the Prison Service, confirms that “a very serious incident of violence against a detainee” took place and that the public prosecutor’s office is investigating the case. “The investigation is ongoing and we are fully cooperating.”
The prison unions will hold a press conference on Wednesday about the case that “defies all imagination”. According to the unions, the affair is a direct consequence of years of government mismanagement of prisons. “A direct consequence of what we as trade unions have been shouting from the rooftops for years: ‘This is going wrong!’ The overcrowding and understaffing of staff has led to a horrific scene about which we, the representative trade unions, would like to hold a press conference.” (jvda, yda, me)
