Criminal defence lawyer and Advocaat.be board member Alex Buelens will spend 24 hours inside Antwerp’s new De Kade prison this weekend to assess whether its design can make detention more humane despite the inherent limits of imprisonment.
De Kade, officially opened in early September, was built according to a new prison model. The site can hold 440 inmates, housed in living groups of 22.
The complex is designed like a campus, with streets and squares linking the different buildings. Prisoners are given greater freedom of movement and can use a badge to move independently within secure areas.
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The model is intended to create more space for support, activities and reintegration.
Buelens said he was not taking part in the test weekend to prove whether De Kade is good or bad. Instead, he wants to examine the concept without forming a judgement in advance.
He said the weekend may confirm some of his existing views, but could also challenge them. “That is precisely the conversation we need to have,” he said.
Advocaat.be said the exercise forms part of a broader debate about prisons, pre-trial detention and human dignity.
The organisation also pointed to Article 27 of the new Criminal Code, which states that a prison sentence should be considered only as a last resort when other penalties or measures cannot achieve the aims of punishment.
“A state governed by the rule of law is judged not only by the way it tries people, but also by the way it treats those it deprives of their liberty,” Advocaat.be said.
