A French prisoner hacked off his own finger and sent it to Justice Minister Christiane Taubira in an attempt to accelerate his transfer to a different jail.
Tragically, the prisoner's request had already been approved when the digit arrived at the justice ministry on Thursday, a spokesman said. "We were just
waiting for a space to become free in the region requested."
In one of France's most celebrated cases of wrongful conviction, Roland Agret sent pieces of one of his fingers to the then justice minister in 1983 and 1984 in order to protest his innocence. His 1970 conviction for complicity in a murder was quashed in 1985.
A man on a work placement at a prison in the state of Brandenburg was immediately dismissed from his internship after sending friends a photo of the prison's master key via the messenger service WhatsApp.
The man now faces paying a bill of up to €50,000 after Brandenburg’s justice ministry had to pay for the immediate replacement of 600 locks in the prison, Bild newspaper reports.
A photograph of a key could provide enough information for a skilled locksmith to be able to replicate it, leading the prison to fear that keys could be smuggled through to the inmates.
The justice department received a tip off that the intern had shared a picture of the master key for the JVA Heidering prison at the end of February. “A large number of cells and corridor doors had to have their locks changed,” a spokesman told Bild.
Some twenty prison guards worked into the early hours of the following morning to ensure that all the locks were changed.
The prison is situated just outside the city boundaries of Berlin on the southwestern edge of the capital.
“The internship ended with immediate effect and the intern was issued with a ban on entering the building,” the spokesperson said.
SEE ALSO: Seventh prisoner escapes from Berlin jail within a week
Please whitelist us to continue reading.
So this website can function correctly please whitelist The Local with your adblocker, antivirus software or browser add on.
Please visit the help centre for more information
Member comments