[ad_1]
Shortly before Christmas, the judiciary in most federal states is softer, releasing hundreds of prisoners early. At least 963 detainees were able to leave prisons or were allowed to leave prisons earlier, a request from the German press agency revealed. In many places, however, the number of beneficiaries was reduced compared to the previous year.
The so-called Christmas amnesty aims to give prisoners who will be released around the turn of the year a pleasant party, and allow them to use the offers of help and counseling centers before going to the Christmas holidays. “So with collective grace, we facilitate reintegration into our society,” said Berlin Justice Senator Dirk Behrendt (Greens).
-
Consequently, in Sedan The prison doors were opened early for 124 inmates, in the previous year there were 170. At that time, however, there were still 3,800 people in Berlin prisons, according to the Senate, there are currently about 3,300.
-
In North Rhine-Westphalia According to the NRW Ministry of Justice, the number of pardoned prisoners fell even more drastically: to 247 prisoners, compared to 522 the previous year.
-
In Baden-Württemberg the number dropped by a third to 200 this year.
-
Fluctuation in Rhineland-Palatinate, where the judiciary had mercy on 110 people this year, up from 123 in 2019.
-
In Lower saxony 49 men and 6 women benefited from the tradition.
-
Hessen frees 79 prisoners for a total of 1720 days.
-
In Brandenburg So far, 33 prisoners have been released during the Christmas amnesty.
-
In Saxony-Anhalt was 26
-
in Schleswig-Holstein 19,
-
in Bremen and Thuringia Six people were allowed out of prison earlier.
-
For the neighboring country Saxony The amnesty is a novelty: for the first time, the prisoners are released there at Christmas: 58.
Some prisoners prefer to stay
The fact that fewer people are allowed out of custody before 2019 could be due to the effects of the corona pandemic: many criminals received a stay of detention this year to accommodate quarantine measures in prisons, according to the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In some federal states, the number of early release may increase again, except in Bayern. As in previous years, there is no Christmas amnesty there. “The change of a legally binding sentence by grace should be reserved for absolutely exceptional cases and should not depend on the contingencies of the calendar,” said the Ministry of Justice. The Christmas grace is unfair to prisoners whose sentence ends at other times.
The decision on who will be pardoned is made at random, but not in the other federal states. There are only eligible inmates who did not attract negative attention during their detention and who did not have to serve a long prison term. Violent offenders or sex offenders also have no chance of receiving Christmas grace in many places.
Experience has shown that not everyone who receives an amnesty wants to get out of prison early. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, 69 pardoned prisoners preferred to spend Christmas in prison rather than free.
