Belgian prison sentences too short

The plans for the early release of Michelle Martin, accomplice and ex-wife of child killer Marc Dutroux, has triggered great outrage in Belgium. Martin wants to transfer to a convent after 16 years in prison. The whole affair is proof of the failure of the Belgian judicial system, writes the liberal daily NRC Handelsblad: "The crisis in Belgium's criminal law system is manifest not just in the overfilled prisons, but above all in the short prison sentences. Sentences under six months are not even served. Sentences under three years are automatically reduced to two and often replaced by electronically monitored house arrest. The Belgian state is effectively turning its back on the victims. And also on the judges, who are frustrated at the weakness of the authorities. Many sentences are nothing but a piece of paper. That Martin's thirty-year prison sentence can be converted into a convent stay after so few years fits in with this dismal state of affairs."

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