© Matthew Ansley via Unsplash
Freddy Horion, Belgium's most notorious serial killer, is allowed to leave prison after 47 years in prison: he has been released, but remains under electronic surveillance.
Freddy Horion filed a request to be released from prison with electronic surveillance, which the sentencing court has now granted. He will not be released entirely: he will be admitted to a forensic care center.
"Strict conditions are attached to this electronic supervision," reads a press release. "For example, he will have to closely follow the treatment program, and abide by the institutions' rules. A switch to an outpatient plan can only be made with the approval of the sentencing court. A no-contact order with the victims and a region ban will also be imposed."
Despite a 2018 expert opinion that placement in a forensic psychiatric center was appropriate, Horion failed to be released for 20 years. After a legal battle, the Antwerp Court of Appeal ordered that the Belgian state admit him outside of prison in 2023. After the Court of Cassation rejected the appeal, it had to be done within six months, under penalty of a 1,000 euro per day of delay. That fine has since risen to about 750,000 euros, but Horion has not yet claimed that amount. Still, he had nowhere to turn to up until now.
Freddy Horion, now 80 years old. In 1980, he was sentenced to death by the Assize Court in Ghent, which was automatically commuted to life in prison. Together with comrade Roland Feneulle, Horion had been found guilty of the June 1979 murder of five members of a family in Sint-Amandsberg, a borough of Ghent. They were a father and mother, their two daughters, aged 13 and 22, and the eldest daughter's 24-year-old fiancé. He did not have a motive for the murders, declaring that he chose them at random and committed the murders out of "anger at society". He was also found to have murdered a shopkeeper later in 1979.
Feneulle died in October 2013 at the age of 60, after serving 34 years in prison.
Picture: © Matthew Ansley via Unsplash