It happens in quick succession: the police search a compound and two apartments for the ex-RAF terrorists. The police got close to them, says a public prosecutor – and appeals to the men.
The air could slowly be getting thin for “Martin from the trailer park,” as a public prosecutor calls him. “Martin” – that’s what the wanted ex-RAF terrorist Burkhard Garweg (55) called himself, who probably lived for a time in a trailer on a site in Berlin-Friedrichshain.
But the police searched the area and two Berlin apartments, and the trailer was removed for further investigations. This means: Garweg’s environment is gone and the pressure on him is increasing, said a spokesman for the Verden public prosecutor’s office. The investigators had taken his “home away from him, he was most likely traveling without logistics – and he was “really on the run,” which could be stressful. The public prosecutor said his biggest concern was a spur-of-the-moment act. He appealed to Garweg to turn himself in to avoid possible escalation.
The authority spokesman also assumes that the investigators have come close to the person they are looking for: “We are doing quite well.” So far, neither Garweg nor Ernst-Volker Staub (69), who is also wanted, have been caught.
Last Monday, former RAF terrorist Daniela Klette was arrested in Berlin. The 65-year-old as well as Garweg and Staub went into hiding over 30 years ago. All three belonged to the so-called third generation of the former left-wing extremist terrorist organization Red Army Faction. This was the epitome of terror and murder in Germany for decades. In 1998 it declared itself dissolved. During the active terror period of the third generation, the then Deutsche Bank boss Alfred Herrhausen (1989) and Treuhand boss Detlev Karsten Rohwedder (1991) were murdered.
Longer investigation expected
According to the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office, the investigators found one person in an apartment on Berlin’s Corinthstrasse that was searched that morning, but none of the people they were looking for were there. Another operation followed in the afternoon on Autobahn 5 south of Darmstadt, including special operations forces, an LKA spokeswoman said. Accordingly, there were no arrests or arrests, but a camper was towed away. The spokeswoman did not provide any details about the vehicle. The trailer site in Friedrichshain was searched on Sunday and an apartment in the evening. There was no arrest either.
According to an LKA spokeswoman, Garweg “most likely” lived in the trailer for a while. The prosecutor explained that the code name “Martin” was an indication that many people on the site did not know the true identity of the person being sought. According to the State Criminal Police Office, whether Garweg or Staub are still in Berlin is part of the investigation. The construction trailer, which was around 8 meters long and 2.50 meters wide and covered in sheet metal, was towed away early on Monday morning. He is being examined forensically, said the LKA spokeswoman.
The Berlin police expect longer investigations and further searches in the search for the ex-terrorists. “Due to the findings resulting from the investigations by the LKA Lower Saxony, the measures in the urban area of Berlin will continue,” said Police Vice President Marco Langner in the Interior Committee of the Berlin House of Representatives. Securing evidence takes time to protect traces. Therefore, the police’s work in the rooms searched so far cannot be completed quickly. It can be assumed that those wanted acted in a conspiracy to hide weapons and other things.
Technologically altered mugshots
At the weekend, the State Criminal Police Office published several presumably current photos of Garweg. They show him in a private setting, sometimes with one or two dogs – and in much better quality than the old mugshots. These photos were found in Daniela Klette’s apartment after her arrest a week ago, said the LKA spokeswoman. Some of the photos were from the current year, so the search pressure had increased. However, the investigators are less close to dust.
In addition, technically altered images of Garweg were published. “It cannot be ruled out that the accused Burkhard Garweg has changed his appearance,” said an LKA statement. The investigators therefore published three different versions of the same photo, in which Garweg can be seen either with a cap, bald head or glasses.
Evaluation continues
The LKA spokeswoman said that forensics continued on the trailer site today. “We assume that the construction trailer container was Burkhard Garweg’s accommodation,” she had previously said. There are no results of the investigation yet; the evaluation must first be awaited.
In the morning there were more than ten police cars with Braunschweig license plates at the site. The entrance to the site was guarded by two police officers. Red and white tape blocked the sidewalk. Visitors were only allowed in by the police after consultation and ID checks. Two young men with slippers on their feet and a dog had to wait a long time to get in. A few meters further, on Corinthstrasse, the police had already left.
In front of the apartment on Grünberger Strasse that was searched on Sunday evening, in the middle of the popular pub district of Friedrichshain between bars, snack bars and late night bars, there were three larger police cars from Braunschweig and a few masked police officers from Lower Saxony. Here too, the police did not find any suspects. According to the information, the apartment is still being examined forensically, which could take days. A few meters further on Boxhagener Platz, banners in front of a formerly occupied house called for support for the radical left-wing Antifa: “Freedom and happiness for the imprisoned and underground anti-fascists.”
Wanted on suspicion of terrorism and robbery
There are arrest warrants against Klette, Staub and Garweg on suspicion of involvement in terrorist attacks. They were or are also wanted for several robberies. Between 1999 and 2016 they are said to have robbed money transporters and supermarkets in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. They are also accused of attempted murder because there was a shooting.