Belgian state ordered to pay damages to inmates after jail strike: report
Xinhua, May 5, 2016 Adjust font size:
The Belgian state has been ordered to pay damages of 300 euros (343 U.S. dollars) a day to 21 prisoners who complained their human rights were infringed because of an ongoing strike by prison workers, Belgian newspaper Le Soir reported on Thursday.
The inmates, from three Belgian prisons, won their hearing at a district court in the southern city of Liege, after filing an urgent claim when prison staff went on strike on April 25.
Le Soir said their lawyers argued that the strike meant a minimum level of service could not be guaranteed -- and that access to family visits, telephone calls, showers, exercise and the distribution of meals and basic hygiene items had become difficult.
The court ordered the Belgian state to pay 300 euros per day to each claimant if the prison was unable to provide three meals a day (including one hot meal), a daily walk of one hour, daily access to the telephone and shower, and at least three family visits per week, the paper added. Endit