Bavaria pays around one million euros a year in compensation for people who, for example, were unjustly imprisoned or who were acquitted after being held in custody. In 2021, around 1.4 million euros were paid out under the Compensation for Criminal Prosecution Act (StrEG), as the Ministry of Justice announced on request in Munich. In the two previous years it was around one million euros.
The Ministry emphasizes that compensation under the StrEG does not require any misconduct on the part of government agencies. The funds not only include compensation for imprisonment that subsequently turns out to be unjustified, but also, among other things, payments after arrests if the proceedings against the arrested person are later discontinued.
The case of a man who may have been wrongfully imprisoned for more than 13 years for the so-called “bathtub murder” is currently making headlines.
Manfred G. was released from custody in mid-August after 4,912 days because there are serious doubts that he actually committed the murder for which he was convicted. The retrial of the case against the now 62-year-old was ordered.
According to the Ministry of Justice, if he is acquitted in these proceedings, he is entitled to compensation of 75 euros per day. That would be a total of 368,400 euros. Until a few years ago, the rate was only 25 euros per day.
In addition, he could then also claim material damage, for example due to loss of earnings. If he gets it, however, costs for accommodation and lodging could be deducted from it under certain circumstances – but only if he no longer had to maintain an apartment outside of prison, as a ministry spokesman explained.
G. is married and the father of three children, one of whom was only two years old and the youngest was not even born when he was convicted.
For years G. fought for the retrial of his trial. Such efforts are rarely successful, and exact figures are not available. Around 2900 applications for a retrial in favor of the respective accused have been made to Bavarian district and regional courts since 2009, as the ministry announced. How many of these applications were successful is not statistically recorded according to the ministry.