Introduction by the translator

The following is a translation of an e-mail by Sieghield Lacoere, the official spokesperson of the Belgian Minister of Justice, to Jarit Taelman, a Belgian journalist working with De Gazet van Antwerpen, “Re: Leslie Maras,” February 12, 2019. The original e-mail was written in Dutch and French.

Jarit Taelman wrote an article for De Gazet van Antwerpen about the case of Leslie Maras, a Belgian prisoner in the Egyptian prison of Qanater (north of Cairo). Leslie was sentenced to life for smuggling drugs into Egypt. His parents, Brigitte and Frans Maras-Troost, have been fighting to get their son to Belgium and it turned out that transfer will not be possible without a treaty between Belgium and Egypt. Leslie’s parents have been reaching out to different Belgian officials but so far it has been very difficult to draw the Belgian’s government attention. Therefore, the media is their last resort.

The following e-mail by Sieghield Lacoere to Jarit Taelman gives an overview of the agreements between Belgium and other countries on the transfer of convicted persons.