The Local Germany

Conservatives question pink prison cells

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 14:13:00 +0200

Some western German prisons put angry offenders in pink cells to try to calm them down, despite there being little hard evidence that it works. Conservative politicians asked on Monday whether the “Barbie rooms” should be scrapped.

Look-alike prisoner gets cell-mate's release

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:18:00 +0200

German authorities have launched an investigation after a prisoner swapped identities with a cell-mate who was due to be released, and simply walked out of jail.

Festive prisons release 1,000 inmates

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 14:52:00 +0100

Over 1,000 prisoners will be let out early in time to spend Christmas at home as part of a traditional seasonal amnesty, according to media reports over the weekend.

Prisoners threaten strikes over conditions

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:07:00 +0100

Prisoners in Berlin have threatened a campaign of hunger strikes and disobedience in protest at overcrowding, a lack of social workers and the fact that people are being held for non-violent offences at high-security facilities.

Half of young prisoners attacked each month

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:25:00 +0200

Nearly half of young prisoners are physically attacked in jail in an average month a new study shows. The authors said violence in prisons must be reduced if those returning to society are to be reasonable neighbours.

German loses appeal to serve time back home

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:02:00 +0200

A German diplomat's son who has spent 22 years in a US prison after being convicted of murder has been denied the right to be moved to a German prison. He still protests his innocence.

East German prison labour claims spread

Fri, 04 May 2012 19:27:00 +0200

East German political prisoners were not only making furniture for Ikea but also sewing bedclothes for West German companies such as Quelle and Neckermann, according to new claims in Friday's Handelsblatt newspaper.

Victims' groups slam prisoner 'time out' plans

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:50:00 +0200

Victims' rights organisations and a police union sharply attacked a plan backed by 10 German states to allow prisoners convicted of dangerous crimes to apply for "holidays" after just five years in jail rather than the current 10.

Young Muslim criminals reoffend less often

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:15:00 +0100

Muslim young offenders are much less likely to reoffend once released from prison than their Christian cellmates, a study from western Germany shows.

Manhunt after second Bochum prisoner flees

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:09:00 +0100

German authorities are investigating how a prisoner being held on suspicion of attempted murder and arson managed to escape a North Rhine-Westphalia prison on Sunday and remains on the run.

Criminal found in attic after dramatic jail break

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:06:00 +0100

German police launched and then called off a manhunt on Monday after a dangerous criminal sawed through the bars of his prison window and disappeared over the roof – only to be found hiding in an attic room.

Convict connection: US pen pals found in jail

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:13:00 +0200

A growing number of Germans are becoming pen pals with inmates serving time in US prisons. The Local's Moises Mendoza explores what's behind these unusual transatlantic relationships.

Guard accused of helping with prison breakout

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:40:00 +0100

Police have arrested a prison guard on suspicion he helped in the dramatic escape of two violent inmates from the maximum-security Aachen jail, authorities announced Saturday, as the hunt for the two men continued.

Nuremberg fugitive still on the loose after bedsheet escape

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:54:00 +0200

An escaped prisoner accused of rape is back in jail on Tuesday while his companion remains on the lam after the two escaped from a Nuremberg jail with a plan straight from a cliché cops-and-robbers film.