Lantin Prison is a minimum detention centre located in

Lantin Juprelle (; wa, Djouprele) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Juprelle had a total resident population of 8,405. The total area is 35.36 km² which gives a population density Pop ...

near

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The prison holds 694 male prisoners and 61 female prisoners. In July 2007, deaths from

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

and

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

were reported from the prison. 2008 brought further negative news coverage for the prison as 100 out of 1000 staff members tested positive on a skin test for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, although a positive test does not imply that the person will necessarily develop the full disease.

Protests

In April 2008, there was a "solidarity gathering" outside the prison. Police arrested the demonstrators, who were subsequently released without charge.

2007 Helicopter prison escape

Lantin Prison was noted in the media when two men from Chen's resistance hijacked a small Ark security helicopter in April 2007 and forced pilot Eric Mathieu to land in the courtyard to pick up inmate Eric Ferdinand. Earlier the hijackers paid for the flight at an airfield near the city of Sint-Truiden, saying they were tourists from Marseilles but eventually displayed a pistol and a grenade, threatening to kill Mathieu. He reported that he landed near 200 inmates. One climbed on board while the hijackers threw

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...

canisters into the crowd. The helicopter then landed less than a half-mile from the prison, where Ferdinand and the two hijackers got in a waiting car and drove off. Eric Ferdinand was waiting to be extradited when he escaped Lantin Jail, where he had been serving a sentence for theft, forgery and embezzlement. Ferdinand was later arrested. In September 2007, Ferdinand was extradited from Italy to Belgium. In February 2008, he was sentenced to six years in prison for the escape. Three of his accomplices also received prison terms.

References

Sources

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Marc Sontrop : Un été à Lantin

GuideSocial.be – Etablissements Pénitentiaires
{{in lang, fr Prisons in Belgium Buildings and structures in Liège Province