Horion was sentenced to death in 1980, later commuted to life in prison, for the murder of the five members of the Steyaert family at their home in Sint-Amandsberg in June 1979, and of the Polish woman Hélène Lichachevski in her clothing store in Ghent a few months ago. earlier. But in 2018, a panel of court psychiatrists ruled that he is no longer dangerous and no longer belongs in prison. According to the panel, he did belong in a forensic psychiatric center.
That did not happen, and so the European Court of Human Rights convicted the Belgian state in May last year. The Court of Appeal followed that decision in December (+) and ruled that Horion had to be taken to an institution by the end of June this year. For each day that Horion is in prison longer, Belgium had to pay Horion a penalty of one thousand euros.
It now appears that the Belgian state will appeal against that decision. The Court of Cassation, the highest court in the country, does not rule on the facts themselves, but does check whether the process was conducted correctly. Because this is a civil matter, the appeal does not have a suspensive effect. So Horion will remain in prison for the time being.
LOOK BACK. Freddy Horion: the longest serving prisoner in our country
Tags: State files cassation appeal release Freddy Horion countrys longestserving prisoner remains jail time Domestic
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