The German Federation of Correctional Service Employees (BSBD) is advocating for the establishment of specialized prisons to hold individuals deemed dangerous. René Müller, the BSBD chairman, stated to the “Rheinische Post” (Wednesday edition) that handling Islamic extremists in custody is a matter of national interest, and therefore, they should be centrally housed and cared for by specially trained personnel.
Müller further added that this centralized placement, which would fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government, should apply to all crimes investigated by the federal public prosecutor’s office. Currently, the responsibility for correctional facilities lies exclusively with the individual federal states.
The professional union expressed critical views regarding the ongoing debate about pre-trial detention, noting that prison capacities are already completely exhausted, particularly in major metropolitan areas and city-states. According to the BSBD, increasing pre-trial detention requires both more prison spaces and more staff, a requirement they have highlighted for years. Müller criticized the federal government for remaining insufficiently proactive on this matter.
He emphasized that dangerous inmates who are rigidly entrenched in their ideology must not be left unsupervised. These individuals exploit every opportunity to either radicalize other detainees or to plan criminal acts while incarcerated, sometimes extending to physical assaults on correctional officers or other inmates. For this reason, they should be kept isolated from others whenever possible.
Müller issued a serious warning, describing these individuals as extremely hazardous, noting that while they may not appear aggressive externally, they can escalate suddenly and violently. He cited an example from North Rhine-Westphalia several years ago, where an Islamist inmate suddenly showered a correctional officer, with whom he had previously gotten along well, with boiling hot water. He concluded by stating that radicalized criminals are typically aggressive, brutal adults, often long past the age of 18, and that the juvenile justice system is unsuitable for treating them.
