While questions over security and personal well-being have emerged in the wake of the Chemnitz explosives suspect Jafer Albakr's death, figures show that prisoner suicides happen far too often.
In Germany, the phenomenon has witnessed a decline over the past 15 years, with 117 in 2000 dropping to 50 in 2013, reported a study by the country's suicide prevention program.
However, Germany's suicide rate in prison remains higher than Europe's average, comprising 41 percent of all deaths in detention, according to annual penal statistics published by the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body.
High suicide rates among prisoners are not solely an issue in Germany, but encompass all of Europe, accounting for more than 21 percent of all deaths in prison in 2013.
The UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) suggested in 2014 that suicide among prisoners appeared more frequently in Europe than other geographical regions, averaging 62 suicides per 100,000.
In England and Wales, suicides comprised more than one-third of the number of deaths in British penal institutions, marking a 25-year peak earlier this year.
Johannes Lohner, professor of clinical psychology at Germany's Landshut University of Applied Sciences, told DW that while the risk of suicide is higher in prisons, it becomes markedly lower following pre-trial detention.
[For more of this story go to http://www.dw.com/en/europes-p...e-problem/a-36034490]
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