At 77, Freddy Horion asked for euthanasia this Friday, May 2, 2025.
At 77, Freddy Horion asked for euthanasia. The one who was sentenced to death for a sixty assassination in 1980 said today feeling “unbearable psychological sufferings” in prison. This is what his lawyer, Me Jürgen Millen, explained to the newspapers of Mediahuis and DPG.
Obviously, the prisoner can no longer, especially since no outing perspective is available to him. “Despair becomes too big for him. His request for euthanasia is not a means of pressure on the government. It is sincere,” continues Me Jürgen Millen.
1. A complicated youth
He was born on September 21, 1947 in a Gantoise worker family, his mother died when he was three years old. Victim of mockery at school, he is quite close socially.
2. A striking accident
At the age of 12, when he returned from school to bicycle, he was violently struck by a car driven by a police officer. He describes this episode as a turning point.
3. Flight starting
He embarks on theft with an accomplice. In 1973, the latter wanted to rob the headquarters of health insurance in Ghent. He will prowl nearby, not wanting to participate actively. He was denounced by his friend as an accomplice and takes 7 years in prison.
4. accused “unfairly”
He saw this sanction as a “injustice”. The authorities realize that he did not play a role in fact and release him in 1978. He developed in him a feeling of rage, his family breaks: his wife, with whom he has two children, leaves him.
-5. Serial killer
On June 23, 1979, with Roland Feneuille, his accomplice, they went to the Steyaert garage. It is a place he knows well for having worked there. He was dismissed after stealing a Mercedes-Benz. Following the trial that the company had launched against him, Freddy Horion was sentenced to pay 500,000 Belgian francs. He decides to return to the garage to claim the money from the boss, who does not have it. He murdered her, with his wife, his two daughters and a future fiancé.
The Steyaert family. / Belga Image
6. Another victim
He also killed a merchant in Ghent on February 9, 1979. He commits a robbery in Hélène Lichachevsky and pulled two bullets in the neck. He takes the cash register.
7.
He was arrested (because he was seen by a neighbor) and sentenced to the death penalty. This sentence has been commissioned in life imprisonment which he is still serving to date. He tried several times to escape, what happened to do for more than a month in 1982.
8. Structural problems
The prison environment in Belgium suffers from a glaring lack of staff and means. As explained in an opinion from the prison council, there are “among the two to five countries of the Council of Europe where penitentiary overcrowding is the most important, with a prison density well above the European median”.
9. Reintegration perspective
The objective in prison is then to be able to reintegrate criminals into society. In May 2023, the European Court of Human Rights believed that Belgium violates article 3 of the Convention on Human Rights. Freddy Horion will never be released, all his requests are refused.
10. Euthanasia request
He asked for euthanasia at 77 years old. He said he felt “unbearable psychological suffering” in prison. This is what his lawyer, Me Jürgen Millen, explained to the newspapers of Mediahuis and DPG. “”Despair becomes too big for him. His request for euthanasia is not a means of pressure on the government. He is sincere“.
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