German court convicts ex-RAF member of robbery after decades in hiding

Daniela Klette, a former member of Germany’s radical leftist Red Army Faction (RAF), was sentenced to 13 years in prison by a German court on Wednesday for a series of armed robberies committed during 30 years on the run.

The regional court in Verden found Klette guilty of aggravated robbery, gun law violations and other crimes linked to robberies on supermarkets and cash-in-transit vans carried out alongside two other former RAF members who remain at large.

The case garnered nationwide attention when Klette was arrested at her Berlin flat in February 2024, where she had lived for years under a different name.

Klette, 67, had gone into hiding by the time the RAF – also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group after its founding members, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof – disbanded in 1998.

She managed to evade arrest for some 30 years, leading a normal life in Berlin’s trendy Kreuzberg neighbourhood, where she reportedly regularly attended capoeira classes, a type of Afro-Brazilian martial arts dance.

Klette went on trial in March 2025, charged with attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms and aggravated robbery, allegedly committed alongside accomplices Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub, two other former RAF members.

Garweg and Staub are still on the run, with Klette believed to have tipped off Garweg by text when she was arrested.

Court does not uphold attempted murder charge

The trio is said to have stolen over €2 million ($2.3 milllion) between 1999 and 2016 to finance their life in hiding, robbing cash-in-transit vans and supermarkets in northern and western Germany.

Prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison sentence for Klette on charges of attempted murder, aggravated robbery, and violations of gun laws.

However, the court did not consider a 2015 assault on a cash-in-transit van near the northern city of Bremen as attempted murder but as aggravated robbery, with the presiding judge noting that the perpetrators voluntarily abandoned their plans when they realized they couldn’t get their hands on the money.

The incident in the town of Stuhr saw three masked individuals attempting to break into the van carrying some €1 million. Several shots were fired, with the driver reporting that he had feared for his life. The assailants did not manage to open the van’s doors, and fled the scene without the cash.

The court found Klette guilty of aggravated robbery, attempted aggravated robbery, violations of gun laws, kidnapping for ransom, and aggravated extortion.

The presiding judge said Klette played a key role in the robberies. She drove the getaway car in several instances, and was masked and carried arms during some of the robberies, the court found.

Shots were fired during two robberies of cash-in-transit vans, including the incident in Stuhr. During those assaults, the perpetrators were willing to risk causing serious or even fatal injuries to the vehicle occupants, the presiding judge said.

He noted that many of the trio’s victims suffered or continue to suffer severely from the psychological consequences of the attacks; some remain unable to work to this day.

Defendant remains silent and takes off shoes

When the presiding judge announced the sentence, supporters of Klette protested the verdict with loud boos and chanted “Freedom for Daniela.” Court officials escorted some of them out of the courtroom, while other supporters left voluntarily.

Klette, who appeared unfazed by the verdict, seemed pleased by the show of solidarity, raising a clenched fist in response.

She repeatedly leaned back in her chair, took of her shoes, chatted to her lawyer or stared into the audience while the ruling was handed down.

Klette’s defence team had maintained that the evidence presented in court did not prove that Klette had been involved in the robberies.

Attorney Lukas Theune had called for a suspended sentence, citing the weapons found in his client’s flat which he admitted constituted a violation of the Weapons Act.

Klette, who has been in pre-trial detention since her arrest, did not deny the charges against her, but also did not admit to them either.

The court therefore relied on witness testimony, circumstantial evidence and DNA traces.

Investigators had discovered a number of items in Klette’s flat thought to be linked to the robberies, including sketches of the crime scenes, weapons used in the attacks, newspaper clippings about the robberies, licence plates, balaclavas, wigs and handcuffs. They also found forged IDs, gold and €240,000 in cash.

The judges also considered it further evidence that rabbit litter was found at Klette’s residence, even though she owned a dog, after investigators had discovered rabbit litter in various getaway vehicles used by the trio.

The material was presumably intended to serve as an accelerant.

Each piece of evidence, taken individually, was not sufficient for a conviction, the judge said, but added that the overall picture was clear.

The ruling is not yet final. The defence immediately appealed citing legal errors.

RAF attacks could result in separate trial

The RAF was a far-left militant group in the former West Germany founded in 1970. It was active until 1998, carrying out a series of bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, bank robberies and shoot-outs with police.

More than 30 people were killed in Germany in attacks by the RAF.

The proceedings in Verden, near Bremen, only involved suspected offences committed after the RAF disbanded in 1998.

Klette has also been accused of involvement in three RAF attacks between 1990 and 1993, which could result in separate charges, including attempted murder.