RAF terrorist
Reports: Klette warned against arresting accomplices
Former RAF terrorist Daniela Klette is led to a helicopter in Karlsruhe. photo
© Uli Deck/dpa
It is undisputed that the arrest of the suspected ex-terrorist and robber Klette, who has been wanted for 30 years, was a success for the LKA Lower Saxony. Apparently not everything went so smoothly.
Shortly before her arrest in Berlin, the former RAF terrorist According to consistent media reports, Daniela Klette warned her former accomplice Burkhard Garweg from her apartment. Klette is then said to have flushed a SIM card from her cell phone down the toilet. This was reported by the broadcaster ntv, the magazine “Spiegel” and the “Bild” newspaper. The actions of the emergency services from Lower Saxony during the arrest were heavily criticized by colleagues in Berlin.
It is unclear exactly how the incident took place on February 26th in the Kreuzberg district and how the possible breakdown occurred. The police authorities in Lower Saxony and Berlin did not confirm the reports, but did not reject them either.
According to the reports, the police officers are said to have allowed Klette (65) to use the toilet in her apartment. Klette is said to have sent a message to Garweg saying: You have me. She then allegedly threw the SIM card into the toilet. Garweg’s cell phone is said to have no longer been used after that.
Accusations to the emergency services from Lower Saxony
So-called target investigators from the LKA Lower Saxony were responsible for this operation. It was heard from police circles in Berlin that they had questioned the neighborhood with a photo of Klette. When they were given a tip about the apartment, they called for a Berlin patrol car to help them. It is emphasized in Berlin that only the investigators from Lower Saxony were in Klette’s apartment and talking to her; the patrol police were standing in front of the apartment, it is emphasized in Berlin.
Criticism also came from the Berlin police union
The Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office, which is responsible for the search for Klette, Garweg and the third wanted former RAF terrorist, Ernst-Volker Staub, confirmed briefly: “The planning and implementation of the measures in connection with the arrest of Daniela Klette were the responsibility of the LKA Lower Saxony. The Berlin police were deployed to support the LKA Lower Saxony.”
The Berlin Police Union (GdP) criticized its colleagues in Lower Saxony in an unusually harsh manner and accused them of wanting to raise their profile. “Our question marks are getting bigger and bigger and it is clear that the LKA Lower Saxony, which is in charge, has to examine this operation self-critically. Considering everything that was found on Ms. Klette, it is pure luck that she was not waiting behind the door with the bazooka and none of our colleagues were injured.”
Should a special unit have helped with the arrest?
The GdP further emphasized that the woman obviously still posed a great danger. “We have capable special forces in the capital for precisely such arrests, who then ensure that an RAF terrorist doesn’t even help a comrade-in-arms to escape. Anyone who has an AK47 in their apartment should no longer be able to lift a finger. when the police come by.” The further search for the two former RAF terrorists will only be successful “if information and expertise are pooled, independent of our own desire to raise our profile.”
The Berlin police said that this incident was also a sign of the Lower Saxony going it alone, which had hardly informed their Berlin colleagues. There were also coordination problems between the LKA Lower Saxony and the Berlin police after Klette’s arrest.
“Rubbishness” between the authorities
The LKA Lower Saxony warned of a “potential danger for the population” in Berlin. Shortly afterwards, after protests from Berlin, the people of Lower Saxony had to make it clear “that there is no concrete threat to the city of Berlin”. It was said that the fact that various heavy weapons were only found in Klette’s apartment days after her arrest was due to the dispute over authority. Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) later spoke of “hesitations” between the two authorities.
Klette is now in custody. Garweg is being searched for using current photos. He lived in a trailer in Berlin, but managed to escape before the police showed up. The police found devices for forging ID cards in his car.
Burdock, Garweg and dust were buried more than 30 years ago. All three belonged to the so-called third generation of the left-wing extremist terrorist organization Red Army Faction (RAF), which carried out numerous attacks and killed people until 1991.