Luc Vansteenkiste (pictured) is CEO of auto parts manufacturer Recticel in Wetteren. He used to be the director-general of the VBO-FEB, the organisation of the country’s top entrepreneurs and bosses, which earned him the rank of baron granted by the King. This week it was revealed that he is being held in Vorst prison, which is described as “filthy and overpopulated”, without being allowed a visit from his wife, even to bring him clean clothes.

Vansteenkiste is accused of insider trading. In October last year, Bois Sauvage, the holding company of which he was CEO, dumped 3.6 million Fortis shares just before it was announced that the bank was in trouble and shares were heading into freefall.Vansteenkiste was at the time also an independent, non-executive director of Fortis.

Last week he was picked up for questioning and held in custody by the investigating magistrate. The decision sent a shock wave through the business world and galvanised the pundits.

The ability to hold suspects in custody is intended, in Belgium as elsewhere, to protect society from dangerous suspects, to prevent them from influencing witnesses and to stop them from destroying evidence. As every commentator pointed out, there could hardly be less of a desperado. And, since the alleged offences took place a year ago, Vansteenkiste would presumably already have put the frighteners on witnesses or destroyed evidence.

This use of the power of remand is particularly galling in the case of insider trading. Belgium has had a law against insider trading since 2005. In that time, there has been only one conviction. In the particular case of Fortis and Bois Sauvage, three other company officers have been declared suspects but none was considered fit to be remanded.

The protests ring slightly hollow, given the fact that the conditions in prisons like Vorst are well known but didn’t cause much upset until one of the Establishment’s own got to experience them first hand.

The same goes for the remand system. Yes, it seems clear that the investigating magistrate is using his power to put pressure on Vansteenkiste to confess. But that is also not news: four in 10 prisoners in Belgium, or about 3,700, are awaiting trial, and therefore not yet considered guilty of any crime. Some of them have to wait years, only to find themselves acquitted and free again, or convicted, but not considered suitable for a custodial sentence.