Former RAF terrorist Klette sentenced to 13 years in prison

The Verden Regional Court has sentenced former Red Army Fraction (RAF) terrorist Daniela Klette to 13 years in prison. The court found her guilty of multiple offenses, including aggravated robbery, attempted aggravated robbery, weapons law violations, extortion, and attempted extortion.

Klette, 67, stood trial since March 2025, accused of participating with alleged accomplices Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub in a series of robberies targeting cash transporters and supermarkets across Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia between 1999 and 2016. The perpetrators were reportedly masked and heavily armed during these crimes.

During the trial, five charges were dropped. The case ultimately focused on eight robberies in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, from which the group allegedly stole over two million euros. Klette, a member of the RAF's third generation, had been sought for years along with her alleged accomplices.

Her arrest occurred in late 2024 at a Berlin apartment, where investigators discovered weapons, ammunition, a rocket-propelled grenade dummy, forged identification, wigs, gold, and 240,000 euros in cash. Authorities continue to search for Garweg and Staub.

The prosecution had sought a 15-year sentence, citing attempted murder, aggravated robbery, and weapons law violations, arguing the robberies were to finance their lives underground. Defense lawyers and co-plaintiffs also argued for a lengthy prison term, though the co-plaintiffs did not classify the June 6, 2015, robbery of a cash transporter near Bremen as attempted murder, aligning with the court's likely assessment.