The tortured detainee of the Antwerp prison is on the mend and will be allowed to leave the hospital on Friday. He gets an ankle bracelet and does not have to return to the cell.
Roy J. (41) was tortured by his fellow inmates for 72 hours in the Antwerp prison just over two weeks ago. He was doused with boiling water, beaten, molested and even raped with a broomstick. That happened during a strike. It took several days before a prison director found him badly injured.
According to his lawyer Isabel De Fré, her client is now doing better. Physically, anyway. He can leave the hospital on Friday. “Beyond all expectations, he made a speedy recovery physically,” she says. “Mentally, that remains to be seen. He is at the beginning of years of recovery in that area.”
Roy J.’s lawyers will move heaven and earth so that he does not have to go back to prison. They found him a shelter, where he can receive daily medical and psychological care. “To further guide him in dealing with trauma and being able to function in the future.”
The investigating judge therefore gave Roy J. permission to serve his pre-trial detention (for the offenses for which he was imprisoned, ed.) with an ankle bracelet outside the prison. “It took a lot of effort,” says lawyer De Fré. “But fortunately we succeeded thanks to the unprecedented willingness of some emergency workers. Unfortunately, there were few questions from the justice department about how they could support our client. To date, the minister has also still not inquired about his condition.”