Judgment of the Accused against the Investigating Magistrate

Facts

Frauenknecht is accused of economic espionage and breach of military secrets and has been in custody since 23 September 1969. On 3 February 1970, he was brought before the Federal Investigating Magistrate, who kept him in custody due to a strong suspicion of flight risk.

Through a complaint filed by his defence counsel on 22/23 December 1970, Frauenknecht requests to be allowed to send an unlimited number of letters on private paper from pre-trial detention. The Investigating Magistrate then ordered that Frauenknecht may write twelve letters per week on neutral paper and submit them unclosed for inspection. Letters to authorities and the defence counsel are not counted towards this limit.

Considerations

Pursuant to Art. 48 para. 1 FCJA, the detainee may not be further restricted in his freedom than required by the purpose of the detention and the maintenance of order in the prison. Since Frauenknecht is detained solely due to the risk of flight, the purpose of the detention does not require a restriction of his right to correspondence.

Nor does the maintenance of order in the prison justify a restriction on the number of letters, as it is irrelevant to the order whether the detainee writes and submits to the Investigating Magistrate for…