A German court has sentenced Daniela Klette, a former member of the Red Army Faction (RAF), also known as the Baader-Meinhof group, to 13 years in prison for a series of armed robberies committed while she evaded capture for over three decades.
Historic Verdict in Verden
Long considered Germany's most-wanted woman, Klette was the last female member of the far-left militant network still at large before her arrest at her Berlin apartment in February 2024. After a 14-month trial under tight security, the Verden regional court found her guilty on six counts of aggravated robbery in connection with kidnapping for ransom, as well as possession of military-grade weapons.
The 67-year-old was convicted for robberies carried out between 1999 and 2016, after the RAF had officially disbanded. These crimes were intended to finance the underground lives of remaining fugitives. Presiding Judge Lars Engelke stated, “They carried out their robberies with a division of labour and in a highly conspiratorial manner.”
Courtroom Drama
As the verdict was read, Klette remained impassive while a disturbance erupted in the public gallery. Sympathisers booed the judges and chanted “freedom for Daniela.” Earlier in the day, a group of supporters gathered outside the courthouse holding signs reading “solidarity with Daniela.”
Klette had spent more than 30 years on the run until authorities tracked her down living under a pseudonym in Berlin. During a search of her Kreuzberg district flat, where she had resided for about 20 years, officers discovered a cache of weapons, including a fake bazooka, forged identity documents, wigs, gold, and €240,000 (£208,000) in cash believed to be robbery proceeds.
Prosecution and Defence Arguments
Prosecutors, who had sought the maximum 15-year sentence, argued that Klette and her accomplices—Burkhard Garweg, 57, and Ernst-Volker Staub, 72—targeted cash transport vehicles and supermarkets across three German states. The trio is believed to have stolen over €2 million. Investigators found DNA from both men at Klette's flat, including on an electric toothbrush. Staub and Garweg remain at large.
The defence argued for acquittal, claiming there was no proof of Klette's involvement in the robberies and that weapons charges warranted no more than a suspended sentence. At the trial's start in March 2025, the silver-haired Klette broke her silence, denouncing what she called a politically motivated prosecution and vowing to remain true to the fight against “capitalism and the patriarchy.”
Separate Proceedings
Prosecutors also accuse Klette of three politically motivated attacks in the 1990s while the RAF was active, but those charges are being handled in separate Frankfurt proceedings. She cannot be tried for terrorist organisation membership due to the statute of limitations expiring in 2018, 20 years after the group disbanded.
Life on the Run
Living under a false name, Klette was deeply involved in a Brazilian culture centre in Berlin for several years, practising capoeira—an Afro-Brazilian martial art combining dance and fighting. Authorities believe that photographs of her with her capoeira group at Berlin's annual carnival of cultures, where she smiled with a white bandana and tossed petal confetti, led to her identification and arrest.
The RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang after founders Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, waged a terror campaign in West Germany during the 1970s and 1980s, involving attacks, kidnappings, bombings, and murders. The radical anti-capitalist group opposed US imperialism and what they saw as a fascist German state still harbouring former Nazis. The group is believed responsible for at least 30 deaths and 200 injuries.
