The man was on the run as of Thursday. He had fled from a courthouse in Regensburg during a break in negotiations. His lawyer criticizes the court’s security measures.
The courthouse in Regensburg.
A convicted murderer who managed to escape from a Bavarian court last Thursday was arrested on Monday. This was officially confirmed by the police later in the evening. The 40-year-old Algerian Rachid Chouakri escaped from the Regensburg district court during a multi-day hearing. During a break in the hearing, the man withdrew to a room on the ground floor with his lawyer for a confidential conversation. In the lawyer’s room, he took the opportunity and escaped through the window. Since then, a major manhunt has been going on.
Why wasn’t the perpetrator tied up?
Chouakri was not handcuffed at the time of the escape. The judge ordered the handcuffs removed early in the trial so he could take notes. According to information from “Focus”, which refers to Chouakri’s lawyer Moritz Schmitt-Fricke, a security guard entered the room beforehand and became aware of the window security gap. The perpetrator is said to have fled during exactly the time window when the security guard set out to guard the room from outside the window. The lawyer immediately reported the incident to one of the guards, but they were unable to catch up with Chouakri.
On Monday, the lawyer was critical of the district court’s security measures in several media outlets. A spokesman for the court told the NZZ that although the lawyer’s room was actually only intended for the lawyers, meetings between clients and their defense attorneys had repeatedly taken place in the room. In the case of imprisoned clients, however, this was only done with restraint. The court states that the lawyer expressly asked to speak to his client in the lawyer’s office, as had been the case on the previous days of the trial. However, it is unclear why Chouakri was able to enter the room without being tied up.
The perpetrator is said to have escaped from this window (next to the surveillance camera) on the ground floor.
With the help of a sniffer dog and a witness, the first meters of the escape could be reconstructed. Apparently, the man had fled in the direction of the Thurn and Taxis palace gardens. On Monday afternoon, nothing was initially known about the further escape route or the approximate whereabouts of the man. The police initially kept a low profile in order not to give the fugitive any advantages. The “Mittelbayerische” reported that the police had received more than 151 references to the fugitive by Monday. On Monday evening, she announced that the fugitive had been arrested in Strasbourg, near the German border. Details of the circumstances of the arrest will only be communicated on Tuesday.
Was the escape planned?
A spokesman for the Oberpfalz police said on Friday the “Welt TV” broadcaster that it was unclear whether the man spontaneously took the opportunity to escape or whether he had planned the escape from the outset. However, there is no concrete evidence that the fugitive has an accomplice. However, the “Bild” newspaper has been fueling speculation since Monday that the escape could have been planned. The tabloid reported that the fugitive had explored the situation at several previous appointments in the district court. He is also said to have simulated a foot injury so that the ankle bracelet was removed.
In 2011, at the age of 29, the Algerian and his younger brother robbed a kiosk in Nuremberg, stole a large quantity of tobacco products and brutally strangled the 76-year-old kiosk operator. Two years later he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Due to the particular gravity of the guilt, an early release from prison was excluded. In Regensburg he was on trial on Thursday for resisting law enforcement officials. According to information from “Focus” and “Bild”, he is said to have entered Germany illegally at the beginning of this millennium. After his escape, Europe was after him wanted.
The court is drawing the first conclusions from the case: the lawyer’s room will no longer be accessible to imprisoned clients until further notice.