A long-awaited trial has begun in Germany for Daniela Klette, a former member of the far-left Red Army Faction (RAF), who managed to evade arrest for more than 30 years. Now aged 66, Klette was arrested in February 2024 while living under an alias in Berlin, and is now facing serious charges including attempted murder, aggravated robbery, and illegal possession of firearms.
A Return to the Shadows of Radical History
Klette, once part of the RAF’s so-called “third generation” alongside Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, is accused of participating in a string of violent robberies committed between 1999 and 2016, which netted over €2.7 million.
Though the RAF formally disbanded in 1998, authorities say the trio continued criminal activity to fund their life in hiding, operating in what prosecutors describe as a “highly conspiratorial” fashion—using fake identities, renting properties under aliases, and even burning vehicles to erase evidence.
Staub and Garweg remain at large, and authorities continue to search for them.
Arrest and Evidence
Klette was caught after a tip-off from the public led to a police raid at her Berlin apartment. Inside, officers found an assault rifle, explosives, and large amounts of cash. She had been living under a false Italian identity—Claudia Ivone.
Prosecutors say she played a key role as a getaway driver, but also carried a dummy bazooka during at least one of the robberies. She faces a charge of attempted murder related to a 2015 heist.
Security and Solidarity
Due to security concerns, her trial is being held in a high-security courtroom in Celle, near Hanover. Armed police and sniffer dogs secured the area, while around 50 supporters staged a solidarity protest outside, waving banners and playing punk music.
One banner read: “Freedom for Daniela and all political prisoners. Defend revolutionary history.”
RAF’s Violent Legacy
The Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, emerged from 1960s student protests and waged a violent campaign against what they viewed as a fascist, imperialist German state. The group was responsible for the deaths of at least 30 people, targeting government officials, business leaders, and members of the judiciary.
At its peak, the RAF was responsible for high-profile assassinations, including that of bank chief Jürgen Ponto and industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer, a former SS officer.
Klette also faces separate charges for her alleged role in attacks on the U.S. embassy in Bonn in 1991 and a 1993 prison bombing.
Justice, Delayed but Not Denied
The trial is expected to last up to two years, with at least 12 witnesses scheduled to testify. If convicted, Klette could face life imprisonment.
Her capture and prosecution mark a symbolic moment in Germany’s effort to confront and close a turbulent chapter of political extremism that still casts a long shadow decades later.
