A 31-year-old lawyer from Bruges will remain in custody for another month on suspicion of stalking his former partner, despite previously being placed under electronic monitoring.
The decision was confirmed by the West Flanders Public Prosecutor’s Office after the Kortrijk pre-trial chamber reviewed his detention on Tuesday morning.
According to the prosecution, the suspect and the victim had been in an on-off relationship for a long time. After the woman ended the relationship for good, he allegedly continued to harass her with emails, messages and phone calls.
The alleged stalking became so persistent that the woman eventually went to the police. Following questioning, the lawyer was brought before an investigating judge in Kortrijk.
The judge initially ordered that he be placed under electronic monitoring while in pre-trial detention. That measure also included several conditions, among them a ban on contacting his former partner.
Prosecutors say he nevertheless resumed harassing the woman, in breach of those conditions. He was then arrested again and brought before the investigating judge a second time. The judge ordered that he be sent to Ypres prison.
His defence asked the pre-trial chamber to release him under conditions or return him to electronic monitoring, but that request was rejected.
The chamber ruled that the suspect must remain in prison for at least another month. A forensic psychiatrist will also examine him.
