Minister Van Quickenborne is completely wrong about the release of IS brides

An IS bride who had been repatriated to our country by the De Croo government in July was recently released, the newspaper De Morgen reports. This is remarkable, because last week, Minister of Justice Van Quickenborne responded resolutely to MP Koen Metsu’s question that all the IS women brought back were still under lock and key. Koen Metsu stressed that sources spoke of the release of a prisoner.

What the minister said thus turned out to be incorrect. Koen Metsu reacted with outrage: “Whether the minister lied deliberately or whether he was misinformed, I cannot say. But the fact that no one is following up on these radicalised IS brides, I think is quite indicative of this government’s policy.”

EUR 1.5 million spent on repatriation, but there is no follow-up

The minister believes he was not adequately informed by the public prosecutor’s office. “Some documents were not up to date,” said the public prosecutor in response to De Morgen. “Minister Van Quickenborne always uses the argument that bringing back IS women is done in the interest of our state security. You have to explain to me why they then serve a fraction of far too low a sentence here and are released. This government spends EUR 1.5 million on their repatriation and apparently doesn’t even keep track of them after that. It is distressing that the minister didn’t even know that the IS members were released,” Koen Metsu adds.

The release of the IS bride is very problematic. Not only because many IS brides usually have more blood on their hands sometimes than their husbands, but also because their release gives them free access to their children again. The children may therefore again fall prey to the radical ideas of their mothers.

IS followers tried in the conflict zone itself

Repatriated IS followers can be released quickly because the Belgian courts often do not have sufficient evidence at their disposal. The result is that many terrorists can only be convicted here for membership in a terrorist group. Koen Metsu has long called for IS followers to be tried in the conflict area itself and has already suggested cooperation with the Kurdish authorities, as that is where the evidence lies. “The minister may defend himself by saying that it is the judiciary that released them, but it is thanks to him that these IS brides were brought back and are now walking around freely in Belgium.”

Van Quickenborne wants to close prison wings for radicalised prisoners

Koen Metsu also recently learned from a response to a parliamentary question that Minister Van Quickenborne plans to reduce the number of places in the DeRadex wings of Belgian prisons. Radicalised persons are placed in an isolated prison regime in these wings so that they cannot radicalise their fellow detainees. The minister is now even planning to close these sections completely. “He is clearly not taking the situation seriously,” Koen Metsu concludes.