Hostage-taking in prison: Halle assassin remains a danger

Even before the kidnapping in prison, the Halle assassin was considered a difficult prisoner. The latest incident shows the danger he poses, explained Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Haseloff. As for the act itself, there are still open questions.

He assassinated the synagogue in Halle on the holiest Jewish holiday, killing two people. Two years ago he was sentenced to the maximum sentence for the racist and anti-Semitic act. As soon as the verdict was pronounced, he threw an object in the direction of the joint plaintiffs. Stephan B. is now showing in prison that he is still a danger.

On Monday evening he took two staff members hostage one after the other and forced them to give him access to the outside area within the prison walls. According to the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Justice, his goal was to be free.

However, eight prison officers were able to overpower the offender. The prisoner was injured, but not seriously, according to the state justice ministry. The two men taken hostage were not injured, but are being cared for.

No reliable knowledge of the means of crime

Now it remains to be clarified how the 30-year-old managed to take the hostages. He lives in a neat solitary cell. He may own everyday items. It is unclear what kind of object the prisoner used to threaten the officers.

Saxony-Anhalt’s Justice Minister Weidinger did not confirm media reports that a home-made weapon was used. The investigations into the background continued, she could not yet provide any detailed information, Weidinger said in a government survey in the state parliament. “This concerns details of the means of crime, it concerns police reports as to whether a shot was actually fired.” You do not yet have any reliable information on this.

A spokesman for the general public prosecutor’s office in Naumburg and the responsible public prosecutor’s office in Stendal made similar statements.

Assassin overwhelmed after half an hour

According to the State Ministry of Justice, the Halle assassin used the phase of the lock-up before the night around 9 p.m. to bring the first officer into his power. He forced him to go with him on the path to the free hour courtyard. There the prisoner, gesticulating vigorously, asked another member of staff to pave the way inside the facility for him. It is still unclear exactly how many doors the staff opened for the 30-year-old.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the prisoner made no further progress inside the facility and was overpowered half an hour after the hostage-taking. He was taken to a specially secured cell where he is under 24-hour surveillance.

Relocation to another federal state is not excluded

Minister of Justice Weidinger emphasized the good interaction between the employees. They acted calmly and prudently. The politician said she was concerned that he had “not changed his basic attitude” and was acting without regard for the life and limb of others. There is danger from him, so he will continue to be closely monitored. Weidinger did not rule out moving the prisoner to another federal state.

Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff explained that the incident shows the danger that the Halle assassin still poses. “Now it’s time to analyze what’s happening and draw possible conclusions for the future.”

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called on those responsible to review the security measures in prisons. The incident in the prison in Burg gave reason to “look very closely again” at the security measures, she told the television station Welt.

Hostage-taking as the culmination of uncooperative behavior

The Halle assassin is considered an uncooperative and difficult prisoner. Insiders report many “little bugs” that he allows himself. It ties up a lot of the staff’s energy and thus also ensures that the usual procedures for other prisoners cannot always be followed. The ministry reported a case in which the 30-year-old wedged his cell door with paper. As a disciplinary measure, he was forbidden any contact with others and housed in a bare room.

On the Pentecost weekend of 2020, he had already tried to escape from Halle JVA as a defendant in the Halle trial. During a yard walk, he climbed a 12-foot fence and spent five minutes unsupervised looking for a way out of prison before court officials took him back into custody.

Jewish community in Halle appalled by the taking of hostages

The Jewish community in Halle reacted with horror to the kidnapping. “That scared us a lot,” said the chairman of the community, Max Privorozki. The assassin did not try to escape from a prison for the first time. “It is not clear to us how this is possible,” said Privorotsky. We’ll have to wait and see what the Justice Department says.

“This man can kill without any problems,” Privorotsky said of the criminal. The hostages were accordingly “very, very close to death,” just like the parishioners in the attack on the fully occupied synagogue.

Sentenced to life imprisonment

On October 9, 2019, the right-wing extremist assassin tried to storm the synagogue in Halle and shoot the assembled community members on the highest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur. The attack failed because the synagogue door was secured and the weapons he had built himself jammed. He then shot two people in the city.

Stephan B. was sentenced to life imprisonment and subsequent preventive detention on December 21, 2020. He is currently serving his sentence in Burg prison. It is the largest and most modern high-security prison in Saxony-Anhalt.