Prisoners sentenced to up to three years in prison should now spend more time behind bars, the Sudpresse and Mediahuis papers reported on Saturday.
Since July, a measure has allowed those with short prison sentences to be released earlier, as long as they weren’t convicted of crimes related to terrorism and paedophilia. This measure meant a two year term could be reduced to 4 months, rather than 8 as before.
Nearly 900 prisoners have been released through this measure over the last few months, mainly to help deal with prison overcrowding.
“This measure was always going to be temporary”, said Justice Minister Koen Geens. From the 1st of January, those sentenced to one to three years in prison will once again have to serve at least a third of their sentence.
