Sharing a tiny jail cell with two others around the clock is gruelling at the best of times. But as a heatwave grips Belgium, inmates at one of the country’s overcrowded prisons call it a living “hell”.

Crammed into a space of nine square metres — less than 100 square feet — as temperatures climb far above 30 C, tensions can soon run high as well, inmates told AFP on a visit to the facility in the city of Namur.

“It’s unbearable, we’re suffocating,” said one 26-year-old from the top of a bunk bed, beside which a mattress has been spread on the floor for a third occupant — since the space is normally designed for two.

Same message from a fellow prisoner, housed on the same level of the late 19th-century jail — which like many across Belgium and Europe has to deal with chronic overcrowding.

“It’s horrible, inhuman! Three of us, in more than 40 degrees Celsius — it’s a living hell,” said the 44-year-old, who like others could not be identified by name, as he puffed on a hand-rolled cigarette.

The Namur prison visit had been scheduled well before the heatwave gripping much of Europe — but it took on added significance as temperatures soared outside.

Those inmates willing to speak to AFP described cramped conditions and stifling heat, saying they were constantly stepping on each other. Windows can be kept open — but offer little relief.

The interviews took place as cell doors were being opened for meal distribution, a highly anticipated moment in the day.

A towel draped around his neck, an inmate working behind a trolley serving hot food repeatedly wiped sweat from his brow, like an athlete in mid-effort.

Prison staff acknowledged that the heat exacerbates an already challenging environment.

“When it’s hot, it’s harder to think clearly and keep your cool,” said Julien Faessel, head of the prison’s psychiatric wing.

– ‘Enormous pressure’ –

“Here the inmates are relatively calm, all things considered. There are occasional scuffles, but we manage to talk things through,” added prison guard Christophe Tichon.

A veteran with nearly 30 years’ service, Tichon saw the prison fully renovated in 2022 and says it remains “relatively spared” compared with others in Belgium where “the pressure is enormous”.

On this day in late June, 247 meals were distributed — the exact number of inmates. The prison’s official capacity is 220.

Around a dozen inmates — just under five percent of the total — sleep on mattresses placed on cell floors.

Nationwide, the prison administration reports around 600 mattresses in use across its 39 facilities — double the number recorded in 2025, when courts began enforcing short prison sentences more systematically.

“The political argument was that the sense of impunity had to end. Overcrowding already existed — but this made it worse,” said Namur prison director Valerie Lebrun.

“Previously, we had two or three mattresses on the floor here. Since June 2025, I’ve never gone below 10,” she added.

Staff say overcrowding complicates every stage of an inmate’s day — going to the exercise yard, showering and receiving visits — making each step longer and riskier in terms of security.

Lebrun pointed to structural causes, including insufficient investment in addiction treatment and mental health care — which leads to the incarceration of people who are “first and foremost ill” rather than criminal.

A sign of the growing strain, the head of the Haren mega-prison in Brussels — presented as a model facility when it opened in 2022 — resigned last month citing deteriorating working conditions.