Judges and examining magistrates are increasingly using the option of electronic tagging when sentencing offenders or imposing bail conditions. Last month, for the first time more than 2,000 people in Flanders were under this form of surveillance. The figures were provided by the Flemish Justice Minister Zuhal Demir (nationalist) in response to a question tabled by the Flemish nationalist member of the Flemish Parliament Jeroen Tiebout.
Home News
Number of offenders and suspects in Flanders that are electronically tagged tops 2,000
Published:
Figures from the Flemish Centre for Electronic Supervision (VCET) show that during the first six months of 2023 more people were placed under electronic surveillance in our region than during the whole of 2018. The number of people in Flanders that are electronically tagged fluctuates from day to day. On 24 June the number of people in our region that were electronically tagged rose to above 2,000 for the first time.
The Head of the Flemish Centre for Electronic Supervision (VCET) Jef Verlinden told VRT NWS that “Last year that daily average was around 1,500. This year you can say that we have added an extra digital prison.”
Electronic tagging could provide a possible solution for overcrowding in the country’s prisons. However, the nationalist Member of the Flemish Parliament Jeroen Tiebout is concerned about this increase in the number of people in Flanders that are being electronically tagged.
Mr Tiebout told VRT News that "Perpetrators of domestic violence, drug dealers and pimps are able to simply continue offending from home if they are electronically tagged". He is demanding that those convicted of these kinds of offences are not electronically tagged.
Furthermore, Mr Tiebout says that the Federal Government must take action to tackle overcrowding in the country’s prisons.