Gladbecker hostage taker released after 30 years

essen - One of the two perpetrators of the notorious Gladbeck hostage in Germany and the Netherlands in 1988 was released after thirty years of imprisonment. The 61-year-old left the penitentiary in Werl on Thursday, leaving the prison on Friday.

The hostage counts as one of the most spectacular crimes in German history after the Second World War. Dieter Degowski and his henchman Hans-Jürgen Rösner fled in August 1988 after a bank robbery in Gladbeck. They fled hostages through Germany and drove to Oldenzaal in the Netherlands. They shot two hostages. A policeman was killed in a chase. The two were sentenced to life imprisonment in March 1991.

According to the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia, Degowski was released, among other things, for good behavior. Rösner is still in custody.