Stories from those affected

• Deaf in prison

  Mr. L. is deaf. He has been in prison in Baden-Württemberg for three weeks because he took a bus without a ticket. The officers could barely communicate with him. The prison system is not prepared for deaf people. Even people with disabilities and serious illnesses are sent to prison for driving without a ticket if they can't pay their fine. Thanks to your support, we were able to get him out.

• Children to the youth welfare office

  Mail from prison. Subject RUSHES VERY HURRY: “Mrs. R. is the mother of two children. One of the children has to have an operation in two days' time and the mother has to be present. Detention would mean that both children would have to be accommodated by the youth welfare office.” We quickly freed Ms. R.

• From the women's shelter to prison

  Letter from the women's shelter: The daughter of a woman who fled from her ex-partner had to pay a fine because she took the bus three times without a ticket. Damage: €9. Fine: 750€. The mother and daughter were unable to pay the fine and were threatened with a substitute custodial sentence. Thanks to your donations, we were able to intervene quickly and buy their release!

• 60€ or 2 months in jail

  In this case, we spent less money than ever before to buy a person's release: we paid €60 and thus got two months in jail. Mr. H. in Lower Saxony had taken the bus twice without a ticket and was fined 60 daily rates. How much money that is depends on his income. But because Mr. H. had nothing, the court set the daily rate as low as possible: €1. Mr. H. couldn't pay this money either - he also had to pay the increased transport charge. We paid everything.

• Panic attacks

  Many of the inquiries we receive come from prison staff. They also think it's wrong that people are imprisoned because they don't have tickets. This telephone inquiry was particularly blatant: “Could you buy Mr. K.'s release quickly? He can't speak German and doesn't understand that he has to be in prison for driving without a ticket. No one here can talk to him and he has panic attacks.”

• trans woman in a men's prison

  Ms. D. was sent to prison in Hesse for more than two months for driving without a ticket. She was sent to a men's prison - D. is a trans woman and has undergone the arduous process of changing her marital status - confirmed by the courts. However, this did not change the authorities' decision. With your help, we were able to pay Ms. D's fine so that she didn't have to go to a men's prison. Driving without a ticket must finally be decriminalized!

• From the funeral service to prison

  Shortly before Christmas, we bought the release of a man in Lower Saxony whose partner had died 6 weeks ago and who then had to go to prison for driving without a ticket. Most people affected by criminalization are on shaky ground at the time of imprisonment anyway. It is not uncommon for those affected to have recently lost family members. Time in prison intensifies this uncertainty even further.

• From prison to dialysis

  Mr. M. has been unable to work since contracting Covid. He was unable to pay for tickets to the doctor and his nine-year-old daughter, let alone the fines. That's why he was sent to prison. From there, he has to go to dialysis three times a week, accompanied by two officers. We bought his release with your help.

• When everything comes together

  Mail from a prison in NRW: “Ms. M. is in prison for driving without a ticket. Her child has been placed in a foster family through the youth welfare office. She is deaf and can only lip-read in Polish.” This case clearly shows that it is not “only” the people who are imprisoned who are affected by criminalization. Relatives are often also severely affected. We have ransomed the person concerned.

• Mentally ill, pregnant, imprisoned

  A prison employee in Bavaria asked us to buy the release of a prisoner: “The detainee is mentally ill and also pregnant. The case is particularly urgent.” The prisoner was due to serve almost two months for driving without a ticket. We were able to buy her release thanks to your donations.

• Situation comes to a head

  Email from a Bavarian prison officer: “The situation here is getting worse. Ms. L. is becoming increasingly mentally unstable and seems very stressed by her imprisonment. She often cries through the night and the officers are also reaching their limits.” Ms. L. was due to serve almost three months in prison for driving without a ticket on the bus. We bought her release with your help.

• Squandering taxpayers' money

  Criminalizing driving without a ticket is not only senseless and heartless, it's also damn expensive. This example shows that impressively: the daily rate for this person was also only €1. The man couldn't pay that either. By paying just €141, we saved him almost five months in prison. In this case, a single day in prison (approx. €200/day) cost the state more than the person concerned would have had to pay in total. The state would have spent 150 times as much money on the punishment as the person concerned owed it. Only because driving without a ticket is still a criminal offense.

• Mental crisis

  A psychiatric clinic wrote to us: “Ms. L. is actually in prison for driving without a ticket and was granted leave for treatment with us. Due to her imprisonment, her mental illness has worsened considerably, so that she was no longer fit for prison.” After completing her treatment, however, she would have to return to prison. The psychiatrists: “A return to prison after treatment would destabilize her and possibly lead to a mental health crisis.” Thanks to your support, we were able to pay Ms. L.'s fine. Nobody should end up in prison for driving without a ticket!

• Serious illnesses and disabilities

  “If you release me from prison, I could work on learning to walk again soon.” We often get letters like this. People with serious illnesses and disabilities are particularly at risk of imprisonment through alternative custodial sentences. When they are locked up, it always exacerbates their situation. Prison is not a place of rehabilitation, but a place of crisis . Especially for people serving alternative custodial sentences, there are often no services available. For the person concerned in this case, this meant that we had to buy his release so that he could start therapy and learn to walk again.

• The last months in freedom

  We received a message: A man we had bought out in the past had died. A relative wrote to us: “I was very glad that you were able to prevent his further imprisonment. At least he had a few more good months of freedom and the experience that there are people who will help him.” He was already very ill and not really fit for prison. He died in December at the age of 57. May the earth be light to him.

• Request from a police officer

  For the first time, we received a message from a police officer asking us to pay a woman's fine for driving without a ticket. She would have lost her job and home if she had been arrested. There was an arrest warrant, but he didn't want to execute it.

• From the women's shelter to prison Part 2

  Another case from the women's shelter: a woman who fled to a women's shelter with her child because of domestic violence wrote to us. When she listened to the advice of her supporters and filed a complaint against her violent ex-partner, the police noticed that there was still an outstanding warrant for her arrest for driving without a ticket. She was then taken into custody. She had to leave her child at the women's shelter.