CELLE, Germany (Reuters) – One of the last surviving members of the Red Army Faction group that carried out murders and kidnappings in Germany from the 1970s went on trial on Tuesday after she hid from authorities for three decades.
Daniela Klette, who was arrested in Berlin in February 2024, is being tried for attempted murder, robbery and illegal possession of firearms, potentially facing life in prison, a spokesperson for the court in the northern city of Celle told Reuters.
Prosecutors in November brought charges against Klette, accusing her of going on a robbery spree with two accomplices to sustain themselves financially after the RAF group formally wound itself up in 1998.
Police are still searching for the two other members of the so-called third generation of the militant group, Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg. Both men are wanted for the same charges as Klette.
Klette is standing trial for her role in the trio’s raids on money transport vehicles and supermarkets between 1999 and 2016, robbing about 2.7 million euros ($2.9 million) in cash.
The left-wing militant group, known in Germany for short as RAF, sprang out of Germany’s anti-Vietnam war protests and killed some 30 people – German politicians and businessmen and U.S. soldiers – during the 1970s and 1980s.
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(Writing by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Matthias Williams)
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