Status: 08.11.2023, 17:40 PM
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A man wears an electronic ankle bracelet in the State Office of Criminal Investigation. © Julian Stratenschulte/dpa/Archivbild
A week and a half ago, a convicted murderer managed to escape. During a guarded stay at a lake, he manages to escape. The question of how this could happen remains completely unanswered.
Bruchsal/Germersheim - One and a half weeks after his escape, a convicted murderer from the Bruchsal prison has disappeared from the face of the earth. The man had disappeared during a so-called execution to a quarry pond in Germersheim, about 25 kilometers away, and is still being searched throughout Europe. So far, the authorities have only commented sparsely on the circumstances of the escape and possible mistakes during the escorted exit. Justice Minister Marion Gentges also held back very much during a government questioning in the state parliament - "for investigative tactical reasons," as she emphasized in response to several questions from the ranks of the opposition on Wednesday.
Among other things, it is known that the man cracked his electronic ankle bracelet with the help of a tool after fleeing from the lake, Gentges said. "With a suitable tool, any bondage can be cut," she continued. However, Gentges also emphasized that such an ankle bracelet does not work "on its own", but only in combination with the accompanying prison staff. This makes it easier to trace an escape route. The incident at the lake is also under disciplinary investigation.
The CDU minister did not comment on whether the man was helped to cut the ankle bracelet and how he was able to get hold of the tool during his escape. The destroyed fetlock had been discovered in the city of Germersheim.
Electronic ankle bracelets are usually attached to the offender's ankle. This allows his whereabouts to be monitored electronically around the clock. The transmitter locates the whereabouts of the wearer and maintains constant contact with the monitoring office of the federal states in Hesse. The movements of the wearers are also visible on a map.
The German-Kazakh had escaped as a prisoner of the prison Bruchsal on Monday a week ago during a guarded excursion to a quarry lake in Germersheim, Rhineland-Palatinate. It was already his eighth execution accompanied by his wife and children. In 2012, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Karlsruhe Regional Court for strangling a 44-year-old man.
After the incident, the FDP is calling for much stricter requirements for statements from prisons. After such an escape, the procedure must be put to the test, said the domestic policy spokeswoman of the Liberals, Julia Goll, the German Press Agency. For example, it could be investigated whether an additional escort vehicle or an additional prison employee could reduce the risk of escape. It would also have to be examined whether a second ankle bracelet would be helpful. "It takes longer to get rid of two ankle shackles than one," Goll said.
In the state parliament, Gentges also defended the accompanied exit of the convicted murderer to the lake. "Enforcement opening measures" would have to be granted in accordance with the legal requirements. A prisoner is therefore allowed to leave a prison "for a certain period of time under the constant and direct supervision of prison staff". It is a matter of ensuring that prisoners who have been imprisoned for many years can also maintain their "fitness for life", as the Federal Constitutional Court has also formulated. In the case of the fugitive, the Chamber for the Execution of Sentences of the Karlsruhe Regional Court had decided that the three statements per year requested by the man were not unreasonable, Gentges continued.
Initially, the escape also has consequences for other prisoners in the Bruchsal prison: "Until the conclusion of our checks, statements from the closed area (...) suspended," said the head of the institution, Thomas Weber, on Wednesday. However, these accompanied excursions will be resumed afterwards. Dpa