As of: February 28, 2024 9:54 a.m
Investigators from the LKA Lower Saxony caught the suspected former RAF terrorist Daniela Klette in Berlin on Monday evening. A man arrested in Berlin on Tuesday is free again.
Daniela Klette has been in custody at the Vechta prison since Tuesday. Investigators are continuing to search the apartment in Berlin-Kreuzberg where investigators discovered the 65-year-old on Sunday evening. According to the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA), Klette lived there under a false identity. Her identity could therefore be confirmed based on fingerprints. The police had been searching for Daniela Marie Luise Klette as well as 69-year-old Ernst-Volker Staub and 55-year-old Burkhard Garweg for more than 25 years.
Second arrestee is not an RAF suspect
Meanwhile, the search for dust and cooking continues. A man arrested on Tuesday in connection with the search for the ex-RAF trio has now been released. “There is no doubt that it is not one of the two criminals who are still on the run,” the LKA announced on Wednesday morning. The last time there was a false alarm in this context was ten days ago: on a regional train to Wuppertal, a man was mistakenly mistaken for Ernst-Volker Staub.
Videos
45 Min
Investigating authorities and ministries inform about the arrest of the suspected ex-RAF terrorist on February 27, 2024. 45 min
Pistol magazines and ammunition seized
According to the LKA, the decisive tip that led to Klette’s arrest came from the public in November 2023. When the arrest was made, the wanted person was alone in the apartment and did not offer any resistance. According to neighbors, the 65-year-old is said to have lived in Berlin for 20 years under the name Claudia. In order to earn money, she is said to have given private tutoring in mathematics. During the search of Klette’s apartment on Tuesday, two pistol magazines and ammunition were seized, among other things. The associated weapon has not yet been found, according to investigators.
Is a leniency program an option?
After the arrest, Klette was first flown by helicopter to Bremen and from there taken to Verden, where she was brought before a judge. Klette did not comment on the matter, said a spokeswoman for the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice. It remains to be seen whether she will get involved over the next few days and weeks. Prosecutor Clemens Eimter Bäumer said on Tuesday that a leniency rule could also be an option for Klette. The prerequisite is that it provides information that leads to the arrest of the wanted suspected accomplices, Staub and Garweg.
AUDIO: RAF expert: “Daniela Klette will probably follow the rule of silence” (5 min)
Interior Minister Behrens emphasizes the performance of the investigators
Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Daniela Behrens spoke of the arrest as a “milestone”.
Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Daniela Behrens described the arrest on Tuesday as a “milestone in German criminal history.” For the police in Lower Saxony, it is “indisputably one of the greatest manhunt successes of the past decades,” said the SPD politician. Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann (SPD) also praised the work of the investigative authorities. “No matter how long ago the crimes took place, the perpetrators can never be sure,” said Wahlmann. The investigative authorities never let up. This is an important sign for the victims who are now finally receiving justice. The Minister of Justice was confident that after Klette’s arrest, the two other accused would also be caught.
AUDIO: RAF expert: Don’t overestimate the Burdock arrest (7 min)
Terror group RAF: Who was the “third generation”?
The trio Klette, Garweg and Staub were part of the so-called third generation until the Red Army Faction (RAF) was dissolved in 1998. About the different generations of the terrorist group, journalist and RAF expert Stefan Aust said on ZDF’s “heute journal” on Tuesday evening that the second generation tried to free the first from prison. “When that didn’t work, there was the third generation, and they did one thing: they simply committed murder. They simply shot people or set traps for them.” According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, 10 of the RAF’s 34 murders were carried out by the third generation.
Suspected RAF trio: crime scenes also in Lower Saxony
Most recently, investigators in the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY… unsolved” once again called on the public to provide information about those they were looking for. However, according to investigators, the crucial clue that led to the arrest is not related to the program. The authorities accuse Staub, Klette and Garweg of attempted murder and a series of attempted and completed aggravated robberies between 1999 and 2016. According to the information, the crime scenes are in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The judiciary in Verden is investigating the trio, among other things, for serious robberies on money transporters in Wolfsburg, in the Diepholz district and in the Wolfenbüttel district. The trio, who have been on the run for more than 30 years, are supposed to use the raids to finance their underground lives.
The ex-RAF trio has been suspected to be in Lower Saxony since 2006
- April 7/8, 2009: Theft of a vehicle from a parking lot on Brandenburger Straße in Osnabrück.
- January 2, 2015: Robbery at a “Kaufland” market in Osnabrück
- End of 2014 and beginning of 2015: Purchase of the later crime vehicles for the crime in Groß Mackenstedt (Diepholz district). The buyer called himself Michael Jansen, came several times on foot and paid in cash.
- June 6, 2015: Attempted murder/attempted aggravated robbery in Groß Mackenstedt. The getaway vehicle was parked three kilometers away from the Groß-Ippener junction.
- September 2015: Purchase of a blue Ford Focus in Ronnenberg (Hannover region).
- November 2015: Purchase of a green VW Golf Variant in Celle. The buyer always showed up on foot and paid in cash. He called himself Robert Hagen.
- December 28, 2015: Robbery on a cash-in-transit truck at the Real market in Wolfsburg-Nordsteimke. The perpetrators fled in a blue Ford Focus with a Wolfsburg license plate. A green Golf Variant with a Wolfsburg license plate was left at the crime scene. The Ford Focus was found the following day without a license plate and covered with a camouflage net in a forest in Volkmarsdorf.
- April 22, 2016: License plate theft in Diekholzen (Hildesheim district).
- May 7, 2016: Robbery at a Rewe store in Hildesheim. The getaway vehicle, the VW Polo, was found without a license plate ten kilometers away in a forest between the towns of Ottbergen and Wöhle on the day of the crime.
- June 25, 2016: Robbery on a cash-in-transit truck in Cremlingen (Wolfenbüttel district). The crime vehicles used were a silver Ford Mondeo with double license plates and a blue Opel Corsa with a false license plate.
Traces indicate Klette’s presence in Bad Kleinen
Further information
15 Min
The news for the north: Arrest of ex-RAF terrorist Daniela Kette / “Turnover”: What has happened in two years? 15 minutes
Its origins lie in the ’68 movement. Then the RAF develops into the most brutal terrorist group in the republic. After almost 30 years, it disbanded in 1998. (02/27/2024) more
From the 1970s onwards, terrorist attacks by the RAF kept the Federal Republic in suspense and there were deaths. In the “German Autumn” of 1977 the situation escalated. (02/27/2024) more
The Verden public prosecutor’s office has confirmed investigations. Garweg and two other RAF members went into hiding. (03/31/2023) more
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NDR 1 Lower Saxony | Current | 02/28/2024 | 9:00 a.m