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Earlier this week, Merksplas was rocked by serious events. A man forced his ex-partner's house and kept the resident family under control for hours. Unfortunately, the ex-partner's son, a young man of 19, did not survive this raid.<\/p>\n
The word hostage-taking is often used for the acts under discussion. In criminal law, not every situation in which someone is deprived of his freedom to go and stand is\u00a0necessarily <\/em>a hostage situation. To legally speak of a hostage-taking<\/strong> there must be an arrest, detention or abduction for the purpose of securing satisfaction of an order or condition. Deprivation of liberty may also be intended to facilitate a crime [1]<\/a>, to cause offenders to evade punishment, escape or release offenders. This is provided for in Article 347bis <\/em>of the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n Hostage-taking requires that another purpose is intended by the perpetrator. There must also be an effective deprivation of liberty. A person who merely makes it appear that he has deprived someone of his freedom without actually doing so is not guilty of hostage taking. For example, it may happen that a person informs relatives of a person that they have been taken hostage (without this being true). Even if a ransom is demanded in this case, it is extortion rather than hostage-taking.<\/p>\n The legislature considers hostage-taking a particularly serious crime. Hostage taking is punishable by imprisonment of twenty to thirty years. This means that, in principle, a Court of Assizes must rule on the matter. However, hostage-taking can also be tried by the correctional court if mitigating circumstances are assumed.<\/p>\n The Penal Code additionally punishes the unlawful deprivation of liberty<\/strong>. This occurs as soon as someone is held captive without legal reason or lawful order. Unlawful deprivation of liberty differs from hostage-taking in that it can also initially arise from kidnapping. In addition, hostage taking must always involve a special intent, a purpose. This is not required to speak of the unlawful deprivation of liberty.<\/p>\n If guilty of this crime, one can face a prison sentence of 3 months to 5 years.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, there is the abduction<\/strong>. Legally technically, abduction is only possible with respect to a certain group of people. These include children and persons in a vulnerable condition due to age, pregnancy, an illness, or other reasons.<\/p>\n The punishment of kidnapping depends very much on the exact circumstances of the case. For example, whether the child is under 12 years of age plays a role. The penalty arsenal ranges from 5 to 30 years in prison.<\/p>\n Note, by the way, that the kidnapping can also be used as a tool for hostage-taking.<\/p>\n Do you have any questions? Would you like more information about this? Then feel free to contact us at info@bannister.be<\/a> or 03\/369.28.00.<\/strong><\/p>\nUnlawful deprivation of liberty<\/h4>\n
Kidnapping<\/h4>\n