Freddy Horion, convicted to life imprisonment in 1980 for the murder of five members of a car dealer’s family in Sint-Amandsberg, Ghent, has been granted temporary leave for the first time to explore residential admission to a specialised centre.
Horion committed the murders with his accomplice Roland Feneulle on 23 June 1979, before being accused by the police of an earlier case involving another Ghent murder in February 1979 with the same firearm. They both received life imprisonment verdicts, although Horion spent almost two months in the Netherlands after a successful escape in 1982. His partner in crime, Feneulle, lived in the Oudenaarde prison until his death from lung cancer in 2013.
Despite multiple requests for release over the past twenty years, Horion’s pleas have consistently been denied. In January 2018, a panel of experts concluded that continued imprisonment was no longer appropriate, but an unprepared reintegration into society was deemed too risky. Earlier this year, Horion, 77, also applied for euthanasia due to his deteriorating ability to work in the prison and the "unbearable hopelessness."
The criminal has also requested conditional release under electronic monitoring, but the decision on that matter has been postponed until mid-August.
The court made their decision taking into account Horion’s personality, the severity of his crimes, and his long incarceration. They recommended a transitional solution, suggesting residence in a forensic psychiatric unit, but this option is not feasible as such facilities only admit individuals under detention orders.
