Hundreds of foreign prisoners released early from Dutch prisons

Hundreds of of foreign criminals are released early from Dutch prisons each year and deported from the country, the Ministry of Security and Justice confirmed to RTL Nieuws after reports in AD. In 2015 and 2016, 800 foreign prisoners got early release, and over 200 so far this year.

These criminals are given early release based on a regulation from 2012. Foreign prisoners can apply for early release if they've already served at least half their sentence and agree to leave the country. If they return to the Netherlands, they will go back to jail to serve the rest of their sentence.

This regulation caused quite a bit of controversy early this year, when it was revealed that a Polish driver convicted of killing a 2-year-old girl and her grandparents in a hit-and-run in Meijel four years ago, used this regulation to get early release from a Dutch prison. In July State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff of Security and Justice said he wanted to add stricter requirements to the regulation