Unlike other countries, such as France, Belgium has no prison intelligence services to keep an eye on the hundreds of radicalized prisoners in the system. The decision was taken after an evaluation by the prison system of the advantages and disadvantages of such a service.
However, regional prison directors have, in the past year, launched an appeal to have such a service in place. De Tijd is reporting upon the issue on Wednesday.
The Minister of Justice, Koen Geens (Flemish Christian Democrats), insists that he has taken other measures to counter prison radicalization. The prison system can, for example, rely upon the services of the counter-terrorism organ OCAM.
Moreover, each prison has an information officer, who consults other security services within local working groups around high-risk prisoners.
The Brussels Times
