The police in Berlin are continuing to search intensively for the two suspected RAF terrorists Staub and Garweg. There is probably no longer any hot lead at the moment.
It’s a terrorist hunt in the middle of the capital. The search for Burkhard Garweg is currently focused on Berlin-Friedrichshain. The investigations will continue to be carried out by the Verden public prosecutor’s office and the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office, with support from the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Berlin police.
The Federal Prosecutor General, who is responsible for the possible previous RAF crimes of the wanted person, is watching from a distance.
Dynamic situation
The public can see first hand how dynamic the situation is: special forces search apartments almost every day. Most recently in Corinthstrasse, where a person was found, but who was not the Garweg we were looking for. Previously, an apartment on Grünberger Strasse in Berlin-Friedrichshain was searched, but no one was present. On Sunday morning, special forces moved into a trailer park on Markgrafendamm and a residential container was stormed.
Burkhard Garweg is said to have lived here at least temporarily. Several people living in the settlement were interviewed. It remains unclear whether they knew who was behind “Martin,” as Garweg called himself, and was covering for him. The container was transported away for forensic examination. The investigators hope to find new clues through intensive crime scene work, including precise searches. Daniela Klette’s apartment was “an El Dorado” for forensics and provided a lot of new information, according to an investigator.
Good track location
The many operations of the past few days also make it clear that there is a good amount of evidence that the investigators are now gradually working through. These include the current photos by Burkhard Garweg that were published last week. However, for understandable reasons, the investigators are keeping a low profile from the public so as not to give the two fugitives any clues as to what specific leads they are pursuing.
Most recently today there was an operation involving a mobile home on the A5 motorway near Darmstadt. But this time too there were no arrests. The very hot leads have probably been dealt with for now, without the two fugitives being arrested. According to information from ARD-Hauptstadtstudio and SWR, Daniela Klette, who has been in custody since her arrest, has not yet commented. She was initially represented by a lawyer from Verden, but a well-known defense attorney for left-wing extremist cases is now said to have reported to the judiciary.
Arrest in apartment block
Klette was arrested a week ago in an apartment on the fifth floor of an apartment block in Kreuzberg. She lived there under a false name; her neighbors knew her as “Claudia Ivone”. Since then, the fact that she led a seemingly normal life has caused irritation: she occasionally played sports in a Capoeira group, took part in the “Carnival of Cultures”, gave math tutoring and also had a Facebook profile.
But her life may not have been as normal as it now seems. Klette, like the two men in the trio who went into hiding, must have constantly lived with the fear of being exposed at any time. This includes constantly assessing the risks of what you can do without hesitation and what you can’t. This also includes not arousing suspicion in your immediate living environment by living in complete seclusion. It is also unclear how, for example, visits to the doctor were managed. The fact that her living situation was anything but normal is made clear by the fact that she even hid heavy weapons such as a bazooka at home.
There is no question that the trio is highly professional. There is no other way to explain how the three of them managed to go underground for more than 30 years. They are currently wanted primarily because of the robberies that they are said to have committed in order to finance their living. These investigations are being conducted by the Verden public prosecutor’s office. But the Federal Prosecutor’s Office is also conducting a series of proceedings in which the three wanted people are the accused. The statute of limitations has been partially interrupted by updated arrest warrants, most recently in 2018. As far as the accusation of (attempted) murder is concerned, a statute of limitations is excluded anyway.
How many processes will there be?
The question will be exciting as to whether Daniela Klette will have to answer in court in one or two cases. It is conceivable that there will be an indictment by the Verden public prosecutor’s office in the Verden regional court because of the robberies from the post-RAF period and that the RAF crimes will be tried by the federal public prosecutor’s office in a second trial before a higher regional court.
However, it would also be conceivable that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office would take over the entire proceedings and also deal with the later offenses in a trial. Behind the scenes it can be heard that this question has not yet been finally decided. The focus now is on catching all three of them if possible and then making a “cash case,” says an investigator.