Far-Left German terrorist aged 65 arrested in Berlin
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An elderly member of Germany’s Left-wing extremist Red Army Faction (RAF) who spent three decades on the run has been arrested in Berlin after the broadcast of a Crimewatch-style TV programme.
German police arrested Daniela Klette, reportedly known by neighbours as Claudia, during a raid on her Berlin apartment following a tip-off from a member of the public, according to German authorities.
The 65-year-old is one of three people known as the “RAF pensioners” who have been in hiding since the 1990s and were wanted over a series of armed robberies, among other offences, allegedly committed by RAF – a far-Left guerrilla group which is also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang.
The extremist group, named after its founders Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, mounted a domestic terror campaign of kidnappings and murders throughout West Germany in the 1970s and 1980s.
The RAF styled itself as a resistance movement against what it deemed as a fascist West Germany, taking particular issue with former Nazis holding senior government posts and key roles in the economy.
At least 30 murders are believed to have been committed by three iterations of the RAF group. Ms Klette herself is suspected of involvement in a 1991 gun attack on the US embassy in Bonn, a 1993 bomb attack on a prison in Weiterstadt and a series of armed robberies.
Ms Klette’s arrest appears to be the result of a special broadcast on Aktenzeichen XY, a German crime programme similar to Britain’s Crimewatch, which profiled her and two other members of the so-called third generation of RAF, who remain at large.
The programme focused on a string of robberies between 1999 and 2016, which were reportedly carried out to fund members of the group living underground.
More than 250 tip offs were sent in after the programme was aired, with police offering a €150,000 (£128,000) reward for information about the location of the trio.
According to Bild, the German tabloid, Ms Klette had for the past 20 years been living under her assumed name in an apartment in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district.
‘Milestone arrest’
An unnamed female neighbour told the newspaper that Ms Kette was friendly and had been working as a tutor. “She was really nice. She also had a dog… a big white dog,” she said. “She’s supposed to be a terrorist? I can’t believe it right now, I’m in total shock.”
Ms Klette was living in the apartment with an unidentified partner of the same age. Hürya Durak, a 46-year-old resident of the apartment block, told Bild: “The couple was very friendly and always nicely greeted us.”
Investigators said they found two magazines and ammunition for a handgun at the apartment. Spiegel magazine reported that she possesses an Italian passport.
Daniela Behrens, the interior minister of Lower Saxony, hailed the arrest as a “milestone” in German criminal history. “Terrorists can never feel safe… we do not forget. We continue to investigate tirelessly,” she said.
Prominent victims of RAF attacks over the years include Jürgen Ponto, the head of Dresdner Bank, Gerold von Braunmühl, a senior West German diplomat, and Siegfried Buback, the West Germany attorney general. The group officially disbanded in 1988.
During the attack on Weiterstadt prison, which Ms Klette is suspected of being involved in, five bombs containing 200kg of explosives were used to partly destroy the prison.
On Tuesday night, German authorities said a second person had been arrested as part of the same investigation into RAF members, but their identity has not yet been confirmed.
