Forest prison worried about facilities for terrorist suspects

Unions representing prison officers at the Forest correctional facility in Brussels have complained that the building is not suitable for the detention of terrorist suspects. The prison is currently home to 10 such suspects, including alleged airport bomber Mohamed Abrini and Osama Krayem, thought to have been part of the plot to bomb the Brussels metro.

The government previously introduced a policy of keeping those accused of terrorism apart from other prisoners in order to limit the spread of radicalisation. The problem at Forest is the number of prisoners concerned. The investigation into local terrorist cells has brought prisoners in from Forest, Molenbeek and Schaerbeek, and the investigation is far from over.

Forest prison will have trouble maintaining the cordon sanitaire. “We just don’t have the necessary infrastructure,” said a representative of CSC union.

“Yesterday there were 11 terrorist suspects, this morning one was transferred to Saint-Gilles,” said CSC prison representative Mohamed Barcha, referring to another prison in Brussels. “We have no special cells, meaning we can’t keep the suspects apart. Two, three or four would be manageable, but no more. We have neither the cells nor the staff to cope.”

Meanwhile, another two suspects, Smail F and Ibrahim F, possibly brothers, have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Brussels bombings. The two are thought to have links with Osama Krayem and an apartment on Kazernenlaan in Etterbeek used by Krayem and Khalid El Bakraoui, the Brussels metro bomber.

Photo courtesy Regie der Gebouwen