Ex-Red Army Faction militant Daniela Klette sentenced to 13 years for robberies committed while on the run
A 67-year-old suspected former member of the far-left German militant group Red Army Faction (RAF) has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for crimes she committed while on the run — a case that has reopened old wounds around the country's violent extremist history. Daniela Klette, once listed among Europe's most wanted women, was found guilty by the regional court in Verden, Lower Saxony, of multiple counts of aggravated robbery, extortion and weapons violations between 1999 and 2016, long after the RAF officially disbanded in 1998.
Prosecutors argued that Klette and two alleged accomplices — fellow former RAF members Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, who remain at large — financed their underground existence through a string of armed robberies targeting cash-in-transit vehicles and supermarkets. The verdict drew an emotional reaction in the courtroom, with some spectators shouting “Freedom for Daniela,” according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. The incident underscored how Klette continues to attract sympathy from far-left circles in the country, who view the prosecution as a political vendetta against a figure from Germany's radical past.
Klette has not yet been tried or sentenced for her alleged role in RAF attacks, which will be handled in a separate legal case. She has not explicitly admitted to being a former member of the group. The RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof group, emerged from the radicalized student protest movement in West Germany in the late 1960s and carried out a campaign of deadly bombings, kidnappings and shootings targeting prominent figures in banking, the military and politics. At least 34 people were killed, including Dresdner Bank head Jürgen Ponto and federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback, before the group declared its dissolution in 1998.
The sentencing comes nearly a year after Klette was arrested in February 2024 in a Berlin neighborhood, where she had been living under the assumed name Claudia Ivone, apparently leading an unremarkable life for years. Her capture — after nearly three decades on the run — was a major victory for German authorities but also raised questions about how a person flagged as “dangerous” on Europol's most-wanted list could evade detection for so long. Legal experts say the case highlights the lasting challenge of prosecuting aging extremists for crimes committed decades ago, especially when the original political context has faded. The two remaining fugitives, Staub and Garweg, are still being sought by police across Europe.