A Syrian bomb plot suspect found hanged in his cell had not been deemed an “acute” suicide risk, German officials said on Thursday, as outrage grew over the judicial “fiasco”.
A Syrian bomb plot suspect found hanged in his cell had not been deemed an “acute” suicide risk, German officials said on Thursday, as outrage grew over the judicial “fiasco”.
The death in custody follows an initially botched attempt to arrest Jaber al-Bakr last Saturday, which sparked a nationwide manhunt that ended only when three other Syrians caught him and handed him over to police on Monday.
Two days after Bakr’s dramatic capture, the 22-year-old was found hanged with his T-shirt in his jail cell in the eastern city of Leipzig.
The death sparked cries of outrage and concern that Germany may never learn the plans for an attack on a Berlin airport Bakr had allegedly wanted to carry out in the name of the Islamic State group.
Prison chief Rolf Jacob told journalists that a “very experienced psychologist” had interviewed Bakr and assessed that “there was no acute suicide risk”. Although the detainee had begun a hunger strike following his imprisonment, he had been “quiet and calm, there was no indication of emotional issues”.
The psychologist, who had no previous experience with terror suspects, had therefore suggested that the regular checks, which were initially set at 15 minute intervals, be reduced to half hourly from Tuesday, said Mr Jacob. The suspect was nonetheless held in isolation as he was deemed to pose a potential threat to other inmates.
“I am incredibly shocked and in disbelief that this could have happened,” Bakr’s lawyer Alexander Huebner told Bild daily.
The incident showed a “complete loss of control by authorities” in Saxony, the conservative wing of the Social Democratic Party said in a statement.
Authorities are anxious to prevent any attempts at a jailbreak, but also suicide, as such suspects are deemed to be sitting on a gold mine of information on jihadists’ modus operandi.
