Overview

• The Interior Ministry confirmed an instruction effective 1 October requiring Bavarian police press offices to state the nationality of suspects and victims by default.
• Nationality may be withheld when disclosure could hinder investigations, breach data protection, or make identification of individuals likely.
• Officials said increased public and social‑media scrutiny over perceived withholding of such information prompted the shift to proactive disclosure.
• The ministry referenced statistics showing the share of suspects without German citizenship in Bavaria rose from 31.1% in 2015 to 41% last year.
• Bavaria aligns with several other states that already disclose nationalities, as North Rhine‑Westphalia moves to record multiple nationalities in crime statistics and press guidelines warn against gratuitous mentions.