Freedom Fund | Back from prison on Freedom Day

On the door of a BVG bus it says “Transportation only with a valid ticket!” If you drive without a ticket, in the worst case scenario you can end up in jail. Photo: dpa/Jens Kalaene "The capital is a hotspot for these absurd prison sentences," explains Leonard Ihßen, press spokesman for the Freedom Fund. The association organizes the so-called “Freedom Day”. "On the day of action, we will buy as many people as possible out of prison in one day who were imprisoned because they didn't have tickets on buses and trains," said Ihßen. This time the fund wants to buy the freedom of more than 130 people nationwide. In Berlin alone, 21 applications had already been submitted in advance.

The Freedom Fund has been in existence for several years. His goal is to get people out of the so-called substitute prison sentence, i.e. the prison that replaces a fine if it cannot be paid. This particularly affects people who had no money for a ticket and were therefore convicted of “evading benefits”. The penalties are usually low. Nevertheless, it is enough for imprisonment if no one pays.

There are hardly any nationwide figures on how many people have to go to prison because they were caught on public transport without a ticket; Prisons do not collect them systematically. However, experts assume that up to 9,000 people are imprisoned every year for driving without a ticket. The Freedom Fund also wants to draw attention to this with such action days. The procedure is relatively simple. The NGO receives applications from all over Germany - often even from prison employees themselves. The Freedom Fund examines the applications and then calculates the costs of buying freedom. These can be extremely different depending on how many days of detention are still outstanding.

»We were able to ransom 130 people. To be honest, we’ve stopped counting now,” says Ihßen. Individual applications are still in the mailbox and will continue to be processed. By midday on “Freedom Day” it was already clear: the day of action was a complete success.

But Freedom Day should have more in store. The Freedom Fund invited people to a press conference in front of the Plötzensee prison. Representatives from the Left, the SPD and the Greens came. There was a consensus on site: “Everyone involved argued for a stop to criminal charges by the BVG and for decriminalization,” said Ihßen. The Berlin population also seems to see things similarly. A survey published on Friday on behalf of the Open Knowledge Foundation showed that around two thirds of all eligible voters are in favor of waiving criminal charges for driving without a ticket.

14 German cities, including Potsdam, Cologne and Frankfurt, show that such a step works. The municipalities there instruct their transport companies not to file any more criminal charges for fare evasion. The criminal offense therefore theoretically remains in force; However, substitute prison sentences no longer apply in practice there. Berlin is not yet one of them. This costs the capital a lot: around 200 euros are charged for accommodation and food per person on a single day of detention.

"Ironically, the chronically poor state of Berlin spends five million euros in tax money every year to imprison people for driving without a ticket."

Ihßen finds clear words for this: “Ironically, the chronically poor state of Berlin spends five million euros in tax money every year to imprison people for driving without a ticket. A pretty proud sum when you consider that the accusation involves amounts of spillage, usually less than 15 euros." The aim was to use the election campaign to "put the issue on the agenda on a large scale."

The substitute prison sentence only applies to people who cannot pay a fine. Anyone who pays the amount immediately will not face any further consequences. Anyone who cannot do this must serve the punishment. The impact is significant: just a few days of confinement can result in deadlines being missed, appointments missed and ongoing obligations not being met. Homeless people and people in very precarious living situations are particularly affected. Even a short period of incarceration can exacerbate existing problems and interrupt support services.

In Berlin and at the federal level, the CDU in particular has been one of the opponents of the decriminalization of fare evasion for years. The party vehemently rejects the deletion of the paragraph - also with the argument that the criminal offense serves the "order of coexistence". The Berlin CDU used a similar original tone in the debates until the very end.

Nevertheless, Ihßen remains very confident that something could soon change in the criminalization of those affected in Berlin. »The new government could decide that the Senate instructs the BVG not to file any more criminal charges. Driving without a ticket would still not be without consequences. But then no one would go to jail anymore.”

A possible change of course would have direct consequences for the Berlin administration. The prison facilities would be relieved, and the state of Berlin would also save immense resources by eliminating accommodation costs. At the same time, the BVG would have to adapt its processes: Instead of criminal complaints, the focus would be on civil claims, dunning processes and debt collection procedures.

Whether a new government is willing to take this step will be decided in the coming months. However, one thing is already certain: the topic will continue to be discussed at the federal level - also because of the vehement use of the Freedom Fund.

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