BerlincTypeface:> A convicted criminal who was being held in preventive detention in Berlin is on the loose after escaping from guards during a supervised visit to his mother on Saturday afternoon. Authorities said on Sunday the 57-year-old man was being brought back to jail by two officers after spending time with his mother in the district of Neukölln. How he was able to escape is currently being investigated. According to Berlin’s justice administration, the man had been sentenced to five years in prison for assault and rape and had completed his sentence in 2015. Since then, he had been in preventive detention in the city’s Tegel prison, where he had been regularly let out for a total of 42 visits outside. Unlike imprisonment, preventive detention under German law is not considered a form of punishment but is intended to protect the public from offenders who have already served their sentence but are still considered dangerous. Because it is not considered a punishment, conditions for people being held in preventive detention must be significantly better than in prison and must include more therapy as well. (dpa)
