On hunger strike for the past week, prisoner Farid Bamouhammad “is withering away”, said his attorney, Mr. Thierry Moureau, speaking to Belga reporters. “In these few days he has completely given up. He is prone to morbid thoughts and is letting himself die.” Last Tuesday, there was an incident at the Marche-en-Famenne prison where Farid Bamouhammad was transferred to on September 3. The prisoner complained he was attacked and harassed by prison guards. He asked for CCTV footage to be inspected, but his request was denied. He was put into solitary confinement, from where he is staging his hunger strike and abstaining from liquids.
“Guards in Marche-en-Famenne picked on him from from day one”, pointed out his attorney. “He has only been there for a month and a half and he has completely fallen apart. It is terrible to be forced to such extremes. He even asked to be euthanized. We are considering going to court but we aren’t pinning our hopes on this since previous rulings were not enforced, beginning with the ruling against transferring my client again.”
According to Frédéric de Thier, Marche-en-Famenne prison governor, “Farid Bamouhammad’s condition has deteriorated, but is not yet critical”, he underlines. “Our objective is not to kill him. He will receive all necessary care, but we cannot force him to eat or drink. If his condition continues to get worse, we will transfer him to hospital”, he added.
Farid Bamouhammad has been in prison since 1985 for murder, attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. He has been moved from one prison to another a total of 167 times.
(Source: Belga)
