A man imprisoned in the Halle prison had been there because he could not pay a fine. The 42-year-old should have been released in November. But as the Ministry of Justice of Saxony-Anhalt announced, the man could only be found dead. Despite the safety precautions that should actually be in place for these cases.
Jan Böhmermann started a discussion on the necessity of such alternative prison sentences in “ZDF Magazin Royale” last year. In the show, the moderator criticized that people are often arrested if they travel on the bus or train without a ticket and cannot pay their fine.
In Berlin alone, the “Freedom Fund” initiative bought 21 people out of prison in the weeks following the broadcast by paying the fines due.
Both the prison and politicians now have to put up with uncomfortable questions: Could the man’s death have been prevented through better controls and security measures, and at best through better psychological care in the institution? And: Couldn’t there have been other ways to deal with the man’s payment difficulties than a month’s imprisonment?
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) also recently addressed this problem and also criticized the so-called alternative prison sentences as outdated. He is planning a reform, according to which two daily rates of fines are to be “translated” into just one day’s imprisonment.
“We are also making it easier for those affected to avert the prison sentence by doing community service,” says Buschmann. But these plans come too late for the 42-year-old in Halle.
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Sources: “Volksstimme”, “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung”
