Trial Over Armed Robberies: Police Officer to Testify on Arrest of Former Terrorist Klette

The trial of former RAF terrorist Daniela Klette is underway in Celle, with witness testimonies continuing. Key to today's proceedings is the account of a police officer from the Lower Saxony Criminal Investigation Department regarding Klette's arrest after decades of living underground.

Scheduled for 10:00 AM, the hearing will focus on the circumstances surrounding Klette's capture on February 26, 2024, in Berlin-Kreuzberg, where she had been residing under an alias. A second police officer is also expected to provide testimony.

Klette, now 66 years old, is facing charges for a series of armed robberies committed between 1999 and 2016. Along with accomplices Ernst-Volker Staub, 70, and Burkhard Garweg, 56, she is accused of participating in 13 robberies that netted the trio over EUR2.7 million. Both Staub and Garweg remain at large.

The prosecution has leveled serious allegations against Klette, including attempted murder linked to an armed robbery of a cash transport vehicle in 2015 in Stuhr, where gunfire erupted. Klette has denied all charges against her, and the principle of presumption of innocence applies. Due to security concerns, the trial is being held at the Higher Regional Court in Celle rather than in Verden.

In Klette's apartment in Berlin-Kreuzberg, investigators uncovered a trove of incriminating evidence. This included a replica of a rocket launcher, military-grade weapons such as an assault rifle and a submachine gun, along with approximately one kilogram of gold and more than EUR240,000 in cash.

The search for Klette, Staub, and Garweg had been ongoing since 2015, initiated by the Lower Saxony Criminal Investigation Department. DNA evidence linked the trio to a series of robberies targeting supermarket cash offices and cash transporters. It is alleged that the former RAF members funded their lives in hiding through the proceeds of these crimes.

Additionally, Klette is under investigation by the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe regarding her alleged involvement in past RAF attacks. While Klette's membership in the RAF has since expired, the group officially disbanded in 1998, the implications of her past continue to resonate.