ZDF reportage series "Prison in Germany"
Prison in Germany: addiction and drugs Broadcasting on 09th of September 2024 at 09.00pm on ZDFinfo
Addicts in prison: this is everyday life in German prisons. Drug use drives many people into crime - and is still a major problem behind bars. Whether crystal meth, heroin or synthetic designer drugs. Behind bars, the fight against drug abuse is part of daily business. According to estimates, one in three prisoners in Germany is addicted to drugs. Smuggling does not stop at prison doors. Around 5000 people in German prisons are under the age of 25. One of them is Brian R.: the 21-year-old is serving time for burglary in Zeithain prison in Saxony.
He is addicted to crystal meth and drove his car into an e-bike shop while intoxicated to steal the bikes. He is now undergoing addiction therapy in prison. The prison in Zeithain has its own ward for this purpose; when it was set up in 2014, it was the first in Germany. But there is also heavy dealing in prison, as even prison governors openly admit. In prisons in Lower Saxony, for example, there were a total of 829 drug finds in 2023 - more than in previous years. In Meppen Prison in Lower Saxony, sniffer dog Pepper is deployed to find hidden drugs in the prison cells.
He can sniff out 0.1 gram drug finds, but he can also smell mobile phones - a physical feat for Pepper. The drugs find their way into the prison in a variety of ways - via visitors, food deliveries or wall coverings. Drug addiction, withdrawal and illegal trafficking: ZDFinfo gains rare insights into everyday life in German prisons and the fight against drugs behind bars. Murderers, fraudsters and petty criminals: around 44,000 men and women are behind bars in Germany. What is everyday life like in German prisons?
Prison in Germany: mother, father, child Broadcasting on 09th of September 2024 at 09.45pm on ZDFinfo
When parents are in prison, a battle for time with their children begins. Visiting opportunities are rare, families break up and for some, contact breaks off completely. According to estimates, around 100,000 children in Germany have a parent in prison. In addition, around 150 children across Germany live with their mothers in prison. Everyday life in prison is tough - what remains is the dream of a normal family life in freedom. "The day I was arrested, I found out I was pregnant," says Romina M. The 30-year-old is serving a sentence for fraud in Vechta Prison in Lower Saxony - together with her youngest son.
She is one of around 2,600 women imprisoned in German prisons. Although this is only around six per cent of all prisoners, the number of women in German prisons has risen by around 65 per cent since 1992. And many of them are mothers. In some cases, it is possible for children to live in prison with their parents until their children reach school age. Romina spent her pregnancy behind bars and has been separated from her three other children since her arrest.
Her two-year-old son was born in prison, and since his birth he has spent his everyday life with Romina in prison. First in a closed prison, now in an open prison in the mother-child unit of the women's prison in Vechta. Inmate Nico S. longs for his family. He is serving a sentence for fraud in Meppen prison in Lower Saxony, which is why he rarely sees his eleven-month-old daughter: There are only a few hours of visiting time a month or the special family days.
How much contact prisoners are allowed to have with their children is regulated differently in the prisons. In some places, parents can see their children in prison for up to four hours a week. In other prisons, only one hour per month is allowed. ZDFinfo meets imprisoned mothers and fathers and shows their everyday life behind bars - with and without their children. Murderers, fraudsters and petty criminals: around 44,000 men and women are behind bars in Germany. What is everyday life like in German prisons?
Prison in Germany: repeat offender Broadcasting on 09th of September 2024 at 10.30pm on ZDFinfo
Life behind barbed wire. Some prisoners in German prisons spend more time in prison than in freedom. There are around 44,000 prisoners and those in preventive detention in Germany. Around one in three offenders is not in prison for the first time. How do the long-term prisoners fare? And why is it so difficult for them to return to a life free of punishment? Saarbrücken prison, the largest detention centre for male prisoners in the small state of Saarland. There are 140 underground prisoners, serious criminals and long-term prisoners there.
It is a prison that functions like a self-sufficient village - with a medical department, bakery, butcher's shop and canteen kitchen. There is also a wood workshop and a print shop that publishes its own prison newspaper. Sebastian R. has spent half his life in prison. The 43-year-old has spent a total of 23 years behind bars - in seven different prisons. He is currently being held in Saarbrücken prison. He has survived two heart attacks in prison and is currently trying to train as a painter. He receives regular medical treatment and is now hoping to finally get new teeth after his long drug addiction has left him with only a few teeth in his mouth.
He is also the prisoner with probably the longest sentence in Germany: the convicted murderer has been in prison for over 50 years. Meppen prison: Walter A. has been in preventive detention since 2015, a kind of retirement home for serious offenders who are too dangerous for the general public after serving their sentence. Instead of prison cells, they live in flats of around 20 square metres.
The majority of those in custody are sex offenders. In Meppen Prison in Lower Saxony, the ten men in preventive detention have all been there for several years: a small senior citizens' flat-sharing community for the most serious criminals, where the inmates bake cakes and tend to their orchids. ZDFinfo accompanies the long-term inmates in their everyday life in prison and talks to them about life in prison, remorse and the desire for a life in freedom. Murderers, fraudsters and petty criminals: around 44,000 men and women are behind bars in Germany. What is everyday life like in German prisons?
Music in all series by POPVIRUS Library