Daniela Klette, discovered living quietly in Berlin last year, had evaded authorities for more than three decades.
A German court has begun the trial of this former member of the notorious far-left Red Army Faction (RAF), who was arrested after being found in Berlin. Now 66 years old, Klette appeared in court near Hanover in northern Germany on Tuesday, facing charges of attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms, and aggravated robbery.
She is accused of committing these crimes alongside accomplices Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, who were also part of the RAF’s “third generation,” also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang. The RAF, active primarily in the 1970s and 80s, was responsible for at least 30 deaths before disbanding in 1998.
However, the trio is alleged to have carried out violent robberies to fund their lives on the run. Between 1999 and 2016, they are accused of stealing a total of 2.7 million euros ($2.9 million).
Police are still searching for Staub and Garweg, who would be 56 and 71 years old, respectively, if they are still alive.
Klette reportedly acted mainly as a getaway driver during the robberies but also carried a “realistic-looking” dummy bazooka during the heists. She faces an attempted murder charge stemming from a 2015 robbery.
Prosecutors stated that the suspects operated “in an extremely conspiratorial manner,” renting cars and apartments under false names and sometimes setting fire to vehicles to cover their tracks. A court spokesperson told Reuters that Klette could potentially face life in prison. The trial is expected to last about two years, with 12 witnesses set to testify.
Klette had evaded arrest for over 30 years until police raided her Berlin apartment in February 2024, following a tip from a member of the public. She had reportedly been using a fake Italian passport under the name Claudia Ivone. During the raid, police found an automatic assault rifle, explosives, and large sums of cash.
Due to security concerns, the trial is being held in a secure room at the Higher Regional Court in Celle near Hanover. The building was heavily guarded by police and judicial officers armed with machine pistols and sniffer dogs. Outside, a crowd of about 50 people held a solidarity protest, playing punk music and displaying a banner that read, “Defend revolutionary history – Freedom for Daniela and all political prisoners.”
The RAF, named after early leaders Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, emerged from the radical fringe of the 1960s student protest movement. Initially, the group mobilized against what it perceived as US imperialism and a “fascist” German state still influenced by former Nazis. It targeted government, business, and judicial representatives.
At the height of its notoriety, the RAF assassinated a German bank chief and kidnapped and killed industrialist and former SS officer Hanns Martin Schleyer.
In separate proceedings, Klette is accused of involvement in a 1991 RAF attack on the US embassy in Bonn, then the German capital, and a 1993 explosives attack on a prison.
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