Former Red Army Faction militant jailed for armed robberies while on the run

Daniela Klette, a former Red Army Faction member, was sentenced to 13 years in jail for six counts of aggravated robbery involving kidnapping for ransom and possession of military weapons. The convictions covered robberies committed between 1999 and 2016 after the RAF dissolved, carried out to finance remaining fugitives living underground. The court found the crimes involved coordinated division of labor and highly conspiratorial methods. Klette was arrested at her Berlin home in February 2024 after more than 30 years on the run under a pseudonym. Police found weapons, a fake bazooka, forged identity documents, wigs, gold, and cash in her apartment. Supporters protested during the trial, while prosecutors had sought a 15-year sentence.

"A German court has sentenced Daniela Klette, a former member of the Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof group, to 13 years in jail for armed robberies committed during three decades hiding in plain sight. Long Germany's most-wanted woman, Klette was the last female member of the far-left terrorist network still on the run before her arrest at her home in Berlin in February 2024. After a 14-month trial under tight security, the Verden regional court found her guilty of six counts of aggravated robbery in conjunction with kidnapping for ransom and possession of military weapons."

"The 67-year-old was convicted for robberies committed between 1999 and 2016 after the dissolution of the RAF, intended to bankroll the remaining fugitives' lives underground. They carried out their robberies with a division of labour and in a highly conspiratorial manner, said the presiding judge, Lars Engelke. As the court pronounced the guilty verdict, Klette listened impassively while a tumult broke out in the public gallery, local media reported. Sympathisers booed the judges and chanted freedom for Daniela."

"Klette spent more than 30 years evading police until she was tracked down living under a pseudonym in the German capital. Officers uncovered a cache of weapons and a fake bazooka in her flat in the Kreuzberg district, where she had lived for about 20 years, as well as forged identity documents, wigs, gold and 240,000 (208,000) in cash believed to be from the proceeds of the robberies. Prosecutors who had called for the maximum 15-year sentence said Klette and her accomplices, Burkhard Garweg, 57, and Ernst-Volker Staub, 72, targeted cash transport vehicles and supermarkets in three states."

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