A trial has begun at the Munich Regional Court against two prison officers accused of abusing a female inmate, according to prosecutors. The officers are charged with intentional and dangerous bodily harm while in office. At the start of proceedings, both men declined to comment on the allegations. “No statements will be made today,” said one of the defense attorneys.
The alleged victim testified, stating she was held in a specially secured detention unit, known as a “bgh” wing for women, at Stadelheim Prison. Prosecutors allege the two men attacked her while she was “still, quiet, and naked, sitting cross-legged in her cell.” One of the officers is accused of kicking her in the groin and abdomen with his boot, and of allegedly ramming a knee into her ribs, according to investigators.
Following the alleged assault, the woman was dressed and transferred to another prison, investigators said. “There were three men. Two hit me, one just watched,” the woman told the court, speaking through an interpreter. “He grabbed my hair and then slammed my head on the floor,” she said. “The other kicked me with his feet.” The defendants sat in the gallery during the testimony to avoid being in close proximity to the witness.
“There was a lot of violence,” the woman stated, adding that a prison doctor documented her injuries. “I had bruises for two months.”
The case comes amid another investigation into alleged abuse at the Augsburg Prison in Gablingen. Approximately a year and a half after the allegations surfaced, prosecutors have filed charges against three justice officials – the former prison director, her former deputy, and a former member of the prison’s security team – for offenses including unlawful imprisonment, coercion, and intentional or dangerous bodily harm while in office. The three defense attorneys for the deputy director repeatedly rejected the accusations.
Investigators believe the three accused committed a total of 131 offenses between January 2023 and October 2024, affecting 102 inmates. The specially secured detention units (bgh) are similarly a focus of the Gablingen investigation.
The Bavarian Ministry of Justice stated it does not maintain statistics on the total number of proceedings against prison officers currently underway or initiated in recent years. “The Bavarian Ministry of Justice does not have statistical data on your question,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Prisons are not lawless spaces. Crimes committed in the course of justice are unacceptable,” the spokesperson added. “If crimes have been committed while in office, they will be prosecuted with all consequences and dealt with accordingly under service law.”
The Munich court has scheduled three days of hearings, with a verdict expected on March 17. “I am not an angel,” the alleged victim told the court. “But if I do something against the law, then I go to prison.” And that, she emphasized, should also apply to the officers.
