Charged with 13 robberies

Charges against former RAF terrorist Klette

Ex-RAF terrorist Daniela Klette with security forces

(Bild: APA/dpa/Uli Deck)

The public prosecutor's office has brought charges against former RAF terrorist Daniela Klette: She is accused of attempted murder, unauthorized possession of weapons and attempted and completed aggravated robbery in connection with 13 robberies. 

The public prosecutor's office in Verden has been investigating the 66-year-old and her alleged accomplices Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, who are still being sought, for many years. Between 1999 and 2016, the trio allegedly robbed cash transporters and supermarkets in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein to finance their underground lives. The suspects are also being investigated for attempted murder because shots were fired during a robbery in the town of Stuhr in Lower Saxony.

This mugshot of the three ex-RAF terrorists Ernst-Volker Staub, Burkhard Garweg and Daniele Klette was published in June 2016.

(Bild: APA/AFP/State Office of Criminal Investigation)

Kalashnikov and bazooka grenade found with Klette
The investigators also accuse Klette of violating the Weapons Act and the War Weapons Control Act. When she was arrested on February 26, a Kalashnikov and a bazooka grenade were found in her home. The presumption of innocence applies.

Daniela Klette belonged to the so-called third generation of the left-wing extremist Red Army Faction (RAF). In 1998, the RAF, which killed more than 30 people, declared itself disbanded. The acts in the region had no terrorist background, as the investigators emphasized.

Defense points to flaws in the indictment
The defense had previously criticized the investigation and pointed out significant flaws in the indictment. The Verden Regional Court must now decide whether the indictment will be admitted.