Belgia to expand telephone tapping as counter extremism measure

The Belgian government has announced plans to expand telephone tapping opportunities, Belgian media reported Monday.
The plans will extend the possibility of telephone tapping of callers who encourage, incite and promote terrorism. At present this is not possible due to privacy legislation, the VRT news network reported.
Moreover, Justice Minister Koen Geens has plans to counter the threat of radicalisation in prisons by taking precaution when prisoners are dispatched to a jail. Belgian authorities are discussing whether extremist inmates should be concentrated in one jail or be spread across several prisons in order to avoid the risk of them winning other inmates to their cause.
Islamic consultants are to play a key role within prison walls and will have the job of noticing the risk of radicalisation within the prison walls. The Belgian Justice Minister wants to give these officials a more influential role.
Meanwhile, a man has been arrested following a threatening telephone call to the Belgian daily Le Soir. The caller said he did not like the daily's coverage of the terror attacks in France. The newsrooms of two other publication La Capitale and Soir Mag that are located in the same offices were evacuated too.
The telephone call came on Sunday evening as thousands of people marched in Brussels in support of freedom of expression and against hatred following the attack against Charlie Hebdo in Paris last week.