A work stoppage was noted on Monday morning at Huy prison, “to defend a prison officer victim of defamation”, learned the Belga agency from a good source. Prison officers have been off work since Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. At the origin of the protest movement are comments relayed by Sudinfo under the title “A Huy prison guard filmed on TikTok drinking a beer with prisoners, it’s a shame for our profession”.
In the latter, our colleagues shared a video filmed by a prisoner regarding two months ago. In fact, one of the detainees regularly publishes short videos taken inside the prison on his TikTok account, while telephones are prohibited. On this one, we can see a guard drinking a beer, in the cell, with prisoners, one of them was smoking a joint. The atmosphere seems relaxed. If it is impossible to hear what the men say to each other, since music has been added to the montage, according to information from our colleagues, the guard would have asked the prisoner not to film. A request he ignored. The guard nevertheless seems to turn a blind eye to the use of the telephone and narcotics in the cell.
Contacted by our colleagues, the newly arrived prison director claimed not to be aware of the case and the video has since been deleted.
“In reality, the person concerned consumes an energy drink, and not a beer, and smokes a cigarette, and not a joint. Shortly following the revelation of the video on TikTok, he had already been heard by the management who concluded that he had therefore committed no fault”, explains the source today to the Belga agency, specifying that the offending agent announced that he would file a complaint, in particular for defamation, and that the judgment of work would continue pending a reaction from the management of Huy prison.
The management finally reacted around 10 a.m. and the agents agreed to resume their work as quickly as possible. “Our management supports the agent victim of these allegations and the action this morning”, specifies Luc Monfort to the Belga agency. “Being in contact with the detainees, sharing moments in the cell with them and talking to them, is part of our mission. Our colleague has therefore committed absolutely nothing reprehensible.”
“False criticisms such as those made in Sudinfo this morning discredit the profession. We do our best work in difficult conditions. The prison population is 85 inmates in Huy while the legal maximum is 63. And we live in a building that has become completely dilapidated”, concludes the union representative.
