Germany hands 13-year sentence to fugitive ex-RAF militant Daniela Klette

A regional court in Germany has sentenced former Red Army Faction (RAF) militant Daniela Klette to 13 years in prison after convicting her over a series of violent armed robberies carried out while she spent decades hiding under a false identity.

Klette, 67, one of Germany’s longest-serving fugitives and a former member of the notorious far-left extremist network known as the Red Army Faction, was found guilty by the Verden Regional Court on multiple counts tied to armed robberies committed between 1999 and 2016 — years after the extremist organisation officially dissolved.

The court convicted her on six counts of aggravated robbery involving kidnapping for ransom, alongside charges relating to the illegal possession of military-grade weapons.

Delivering the judgment after a tightly secured 14-month trial, presiding judge Lars Engelke said the crimes were carefully coordinated and executed with remarkable secrecy.

“They carried out their robberies with a division of labour and in a highly conspiratorial manner,” Engelke told the court.

Observers said Klette showed little reaction as the sentence was read out. However, tensions erupted inside the courtroom when supporters shouted protest slogans and demanded her release. Outside the courthouse, sympathisers gathered carrying placards in solidarity with the former militant.

German authorities arrested Klette in February 2024 in Berlin after years of investigations into the whereabouts of former RAF operatives. Prosecutors said she had quietly lived in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin for nearly two decades under an assumed identity while successfully avoiding capture.

Investigators revealed that she managed to remain hidden for more than 30 years by blending into ordinary civilian life and maintaining an extremely discreet public profile. Authorities reportedly traced her after photographs emerged showing her attending Berlin’s annual Carnival of Cultures festival.

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Subsequent police raids on her apartment uncovered an arsenal of weapons, forged identity papers, wigs, large amounts of cash and what investigators described as a fake bazooka concealed inside the residence. Authorities also recovered approximately €240,000 believed to be linked to proceeds from the robberies.

Prosecutors alleged that Klette committed the robberies alongside two other former RAF members who remain fugitives — Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub. According to investigators, the trio targeted supermarkets and cash transport vehicles across several German states, stealing more than €2 million during the operations.

Authorities further disclosed that DNA evidence recovered from Klette’s apartment linked both Garweg and Staub to the residence, including traces found on personal items and materials inside the home. German police continue to search for the two men.

Klette’s defence lawyers had urged the court to acquit her, insisting prosecutors failed to establish direct evidence connecting her to the crimes. They also argued that the weapons charges did not justify such a lengthy prison sentence.

At the opening of the trial in 2025, Klette criticised the prosecution as politically motivated and reaffirmed her opposition to “capitalism and the patriarchy.

German prosecutors are separately investigating allegations tying her to politically motivated attacks linked to the RAF’s activities during the 1990s. However, authorities can no longer prosecute her for membership in a terrorist organisation because the statute of limitations for 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 blends dance, acrobatics and combat techniques.

The Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group, emerged in West Germany during the 1970s and became infamous for bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and attacks targeting political, military and business institutions.

Founded by radicals including Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, the group claimed it was resisting American imperialism and what it described as lingering fascist structures in post-war Germany.

German authorities believe the RAF was responsible for at least 30 deaths and hundreds of injuries before the organisation formally dissolved in the late 1990s.

Security experts say Klette’s conviction marks one of the most significant legal developments involving former RAF members in recent years and reflects Germany’s continued determination to close unresolved cases connected to domestic extremism decades after the group’s collapse.a

Legal analysts also noted that the case has reignited debate within Germany over how former extremist fugitives were able to evade capture for decades despite extensive intelligence networks and long-running surveillance operations.