terrorism
Arrested non-former RAF terrorists
Police officers at an armored vehicle. photo
© Paul Zinken/dpa
A few days ago, the former RAF terrorist Klette was arrested in Berlin. Now the police are arresting two men in the capital. They are not wanted former RAF terrorists.
A few days after the arrest of the former RAF terrorist Daniela Klette, two men were arrested in Berlin. The two are not the former RAF terrorists Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg. A spokeswoman for the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office said this after a major police operation in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain. The “Tagesspiegel” had previously reported.
During the arrest in the morning, shots were fired by emergency services, the spokeswoman said. There were no injuries. Another spokeswoman for the LKA Lower Saxony said that the sounds of firearms could be heard “in connection with a door being opened”.
Staub (69) and Garweg (55), like Klette (65), went into hiding over 30 years ago. All three belonged to the third generation of the former left-wing extremist terrorist organization. They are also accused of a series of later cash-in-transit robberies, some of which involved the use of firearms and a rocket-propelled grenade.
According to a dpa reporter’s observation, several people were taken away by police officers during the operation in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain – possibly to establish their identities. The LKA Lower Saxony confirmed two arrests to the dpa this morning. Other dpa reporters reported on a special operations team and an armored vehicle on site. A police dog was also used.
130 officers on duty
According to the LKA spokeswoman, the operation began at around 7:30 a.m. in a commercial area on the corner of Markgrafendamm and Persiusstrasse. The Federal Criminal Police Office and the Berlin police were also involved. The spokeswoman initially did not provide any further details. According to a spokesman for the Berlin police, a total of 130 forces were deployed.
There are workshops and many construction trailers on the site near Ostkreuz train station. The trailers are sprayed with graffiti. On walls and banners there are slogans against gentrification and for climate protection.
The RAF was the epitome of terror and murder in Germany for decades. In 1998 it declared itself dissolved. During the active terrorist period of Staub and Garweg, the then Deutsche Bank boss Alfred Herrhausen (1989) and Treuhand boss Detlev Karsten Rohwedder (1991) were murdered and Herrhausen’s driver was seriously injured.
Burdock, Staub and Garweg were or are also wanted for a series of later cash-in-transit robberies. The three are said to have committed robberies on money transporters and supermarkets in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia between 1999 and 2016. They are also accused of attempted murder because shots were fired during robberies. There are also arrest warrants on suspicion of involvement in terrorist attacks.
“Ask for help”
On Friday, the BKA asked the public for help in finding dust and waste. “After arrest in Berlin, search for 2 suspected former RAF terrorists,” wrote the BKA on X (formerly Twitter). BKA and LKA Lower Saxony “ask for help”. The LKA Lower Saxony suspected that the men could also be in Berlin. Despite previous weapons discoveries near Klette, there is “no concrete threat situation” for Berlin. On Saturday, the LKA published very detailed current photos of Garweg.
It was unclear whether the trio were together until Klette’s arrest. It is more likely that everyone lived their own lives and came together to commit crimes, said a spokesman for the responsible public prosecutor’s office in Verden recently.
The wanted pages of the BKA, Europol and LKA also contained extensive information about dust and cooking. The BKA emphasizes: “The investigating authorities are also specifically targeting the families of the accused, their circle of friends and former RAF supporters.” Tips could be submitted confidentially via a protected internet system.