Its infrastructure being in very poor condition, it was scheduled to close at the end of 2024, to be replaced by Haren Prison, but closure was postponed in February 2025, rescheduled for 2028.

[3] During the period of the establishment of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1830, the country's prisons were made up a motley collection of buildings that were not destined to become places of confinement.

[6][7] The prison was designed by the Belgian architect Joseph Jonas Dumont [fr] and built by the Belgian-French engineer and sculptor Francois-Jacques Derre [nl] between 1878 and 1884.

[10] Individuals who were "part of clandestine networks, others who had publicly protested against the abuses of the occupying forces, or those who had attempted to cross the Dutch border" were systematically sentenced to imprisonment.

Several testimonies report violent treatment in the Brussels prison environment during this period, including cases of physical brutality, death threats and other acts of intimidation.

[10] Among the most notable women incarcerated at the prison were the English nurse Edith Cavell,[11] the French secret agent Louise de Bettignies,[12] and the Belgian spy Gabrielle Petit.

[17] Notably, General Alexander von Falkenhausen, military governor of Belgium and northern France during the occupation, was detained there from 1948 to 1951.

They took then-inspector-general Harry Van Oers hostage, forced him onto the bonnet of their getaway car and drove out of the prison gate.

[23] The rear of the surrounding wall borders the Avenue de la Jonction/Verbindingslaan, opposite Forest Prison [fr; nl].

This has led to the emergence of multiple "clusters" of infection, prompting the mayor of Saint-Gilles, Charles Picqué, to issue an order prohibiting new entries.

[20] At the end of the proceedings, the court ordered the Belgian State to reduce the number of inmates at Saint-Gilles Prison to the facility's official capacity.