Germany Jails ‘Most Wanted’ Ex-RAF Militant Daniela Klette For 13 Years After Decades On The Run
Germany Jails ‘Most Wanted’ Ex-RAF Militant Daniela Klette For 13 Years After Decades On The Run
The 67-year-old Klette was reportedly convicted by the Verden Regional Court on charges linked to multiple violent robberies committed between 1999 and 2016, years after the disbandment of the extremist far-left group known as the Red Army Faction.
Aregional court in Germany has sentenced the “most wanted” female former Red Army Faction militant, Daniela Klette, to 13 years’ imprisonment over a series of armed robberies carried out while she spent decades evading arrest under a false identity.
The 67-year-old Klette was reportedly convicted by the Verden Regional Court on charges linked to multiple violent robberies committed between 1999 and 2016, years after the disbandment of the extremist far-left group known as the Red Army Faction.
The former militant, once considered one of Germany’s most wanted fugitives, had lived quietly in Berlin for nearly two decades before security agents tracked her down and arrested her in February 2024.
The court found her guilty of six counts of aggravated robbery tied to kidnapping for ransom, as well as illegal possession of military-grade weapons, according to The Guardian UK.
Delivering judgment after a heavily guarded 14-month trial, presiding judge Lars Engelke said the operations were carried out in a highly coordinated and secretive manner.
“They carried out their robberies with a division of labour and in a highly conspiratorial manner,” Engelke was quoted as saying during the proceedings.
German media reported that Klette remained expressionless as the verdict was read, while tension erupted inside the courtroom.
Supporters reportedly jeered the judges and shouted slogans demanding her release.
Outside the court premises, sympathisers gathered carrying placards bearing messages of solidarity with the convicted former militant.
Investigators said Klette had managed to stay hidden for over 30 years by using a fake identity while blending into everyday life in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district.
During raids following her arrest, police reportedly discovered weapons, forged identity documents, wigs, large quantities of cash, and what authorities described as a fake bazooka inside her apartment.
Authorities also recovered about €240,000, believed to be proceeds from the robberies.
Prosecutors alleged that Klette worked alongside two other fugitive former RAF members, Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub, to rob cash transport vehicles and supermarkets across several German states.
The trio allegedly stole more than €2 million during the operations.
Investigators said DNA evidence linked the two wanted men to Klette’s residence, including traces reportedly recovered from personal items inside the apartment. Garweg and Staub remain fugitives.
Klette’s legal team had pushed for her acquittal, insisting prosecutors failed to establish direct involvement in the robberies.
Her lawyers also argued that the weapons-related allegations did not justify a lengthy prison sentence.
At the opening of the trial in 2025, Klette publicly denounced the proceedings as politically motivated and declared that she remained committed to opposing “capitalism and the patriarchy.”
German prosecutors are separately pursuing additional allegations accusing Klette of involvement in politically motivated attacks allegedly carried out during the active years of the RAF in the 1990s.
However, German authorities can no longer prosecute her for membership of a terrorist organisation because the statute of limitations on that offence expired in 2018.
Before her arrest, Klette reportedly immersed herself in Berlin’s Brazilian cultural scene and regularly practised capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines dance and combat techniques.
Authorities reportedly identified her after photographs surfaced showing her participating in Berlin’s annual Carnival of Cultures celebration.
The Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof group, emerged in West Germany during the 1970s and became notorious for bombings, kidnappings, assassinations, and attacks targeting state institutions and business figures.
Founded by militants including Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, the group claimed it was fighting against what it described as American imperialism and lingering fascist influence in post-war Germany.
German authorities believe the organisation was responsible for at least 30 deaths and hundreds of injuries before it formally dissolved in the late 1990s.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/27/daniela-klette-red-army-faction-jailed-armed-robberies-on-the-run
