Eine Weisung, die besagt, dass Christian B. im Inland bleiben muss, wurde aufgehoben. Das Landgericht muss darüber neu entscheiden.
www.braunschweiger-zeitung.de
10.11.2025, 14:04
Court decides: Christian B. is allowed to settle abroad
Brunswick. An instruction stating that Christian B. must remain in Germany has been repealed. The regional court must make a new decision on this.
According to a court order, the German suspect in the case of the British girl Madeleine „Maddie“ McCann, who disappeared in Portugal in 2007, was released from prison almost two months ago and was allowed to settle abroad. According to information on Monday, the Higher Regional Court in Celle, Lower Saxony, decided this in a legal dispute over so-called management supervision measures imposed against Christian B.
The instruction ordered by the Hildesheim Regional Court that B. may only live in Germany during his five-year period under management supervision is therefore inadmissible. The Higher Regional Court emphasized that there is no legal basis for this. The responsible Senate confirmed all other instructions, including the obligation to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to determine where to stay.
A temporary ban on leaving the country can still be imposed
The court also emphasized that a temporary ban on leaving the country could certainly be imposed on B., for example to gain time for „preparatory measures“. A ban on settlement in certain correspondingly specified regions is also possible. The design of management supervision remains the responsibility of the Hildesheim Regional Court.
B., who had multiple previous convictions for sexual offenses, was released from a correctional facility in Lower Saxony in September after serving a seven-year prison sentence for, among other things, rape. Regardless, the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig classifies him as a suspect in the case of the missing Maddie. She announced this in 2020, so she has not yet filed charges.
No legal basis for custodial measures
According to a court expert, B. is at high risk of further crimes. However, there is currently no legal basis for measures involving deprivation of liberty. However, as part of management supervision, instructions were given to reduce the risk of relapse. B. must wear an electronic ankle bracelet and, among other things, maintain regular contact with a probation officer.
The „Spiegel“ recently reported that B. now lives as a homeless person in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. Accordingly, after his release from prison, he was temporarily quartered by the authorities and his lawyers in an apartment in Neumünster and a hotel in Kiel. However, B's stay became public and caused unrest and threats. According to the report, he most recently lived in a green area and was guarded by police officers around the clock.
Maddie disappeared from a holiday apartment in a holiday resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday, while her parents were eating in a nearby restaurant. Despite years of searching, there is still no trace of it, and the case has always attracted great international media interest. According to German authorities, B. used to live temporarily in Portugal.
