Red Army Faction - Baader-Meinhof Gang German Terrorist Brigitte Mohnhaupt Gets Parole
Pneuma Pelosi
<http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2345252,00.html>
Germany to Free Former Leader of Left-Wing Terror Group
Brigitte Mohnhaupt
Brigitte Mohnhaupt
A German court has ruled that a former member of the Red Army Faction (RAF),
Brigitte Mohnhaupt will walk free on parole on March 27 after serving 24 years
for multiple murders.
After consulting the prosecutors and a psychiatric expert for Mohnhaupt's
case, a state court in Stuttgart found "no indications … that she could commit
future serious offenses." Mohnhaupt will serve the remainder of her sentence
on parole.
The case has revived painful memories of the RAF's violent campaign of the
1970s. Also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang after its founders Andreas Baader
and Ulrike Meinhof, The Red Army Faction murdered a string of high-profile
German establishment figures from 1977 to 1982 as it attempted to bring down
what it considered an oppressive capitalist state.
The group is suspected of killing 34 people between 1972 and 1991. Some 26 RAF
members died during that period and another 26 were sentenced to life in
prison.
Mohnhaupt, now 57, had risen to the ranks of the RAF's "second-generation"
leadership in 1977. She has never explicitly apologized for the bloodshed.
Christian KlarBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der
Bildunterschrift: The photo of Schleyer, held hostage by the RAF for over a
month, became an iconic image of 1970s West Germany
In 1977, Mohnhaupt took part in the abductions and subsequent murders of West
Germany's chief federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback, head of the West German
employers' federation Hanns-Martin Schleyer and Dresdner Bank chief executive
Jürgen Ponto. Brigitte Mohnhaupt was captured in 1982, convicted of
involvement in nine murders and sentenced to five life sentences in 1985.
Mohnhaupt has already made nine excursions from prison, with armed police
watching her, to prepare her for a changed world that is connected up by the
internet and only dimly remembers communism, which began crumbling in Europe
in 1989.
Monday's court decision does not come as a surprise, since prosecutors had
previously supported Mohnhaupt's bid for parole at a closed hearing in
Stuttgart on January 22.
Other RAF Members Await Clemency
The former terrorist had petitioned for parole once already on Feb 21, 2006,
but was rejected because she had not yet served the minimum required sentence
of 24 years, a provision that grew out of the "unusual gravity of the crime."
That sentence expires on March 26.
Christian Klar is still awaiting a decision on his plea for
clemencyBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Christian Klar is still awaiting a decision on his plea for clemency
Mohnhaupt's release comes at the same time as another petition for clemency
filed by convicted Red Army Faction leader Christian Klar. Because Klar, 54,
still has two years to serve before qualifying for possible parole, his only
chance for an early release is a special pardon from German President Horst
Köhler, who is currently reviewing the case. Former President Johannes Rau
already rejected a previous petition for clemency.
Klar, who like Mohnhaupt came from a well-off family and went to
university to study philosophy before becoming a terrorist, is
reported to have been well behaved in jail. A Berlin theatre has
promised him a two-year staff internship if he is released.
Klar has also never renounced his ideas, telling an interviewer in
2001 he still wanted Germany to make a "fresh start" and would never abjure
what the RAF had done, "though I do not contemplate reviving the armed
struggle."
Both Mohnhaupt and Klar's cases have sparked a furious debate in Germany
pitting outraged relatives of the RAF's victims against some politicians who
say the killers have done their time and no longer pose a threat to society.
Besides Klar, the only other members of the RAF still in prison are Eva Haule
and Birgit Hogefeld. Most of the terrorist organization's original leaders
committed suicide in jail during the 1970s.
The group abandoned violence in 1992 and formally disbanded in 1998.
DW staff (ab)
Readers Weigh In On Former Militant's Release
Mohnhaupt (right) will be released on parole, but it's unclear whether Klar
(left) will be pardonedMohnhaupt (right) will be released on parole, but it's
unclear whether Klar (left) will be pardoned
A German court ruled this week that former Red Army Faction (RAF) member
Brigitte Mohnhaupt will walk free on March 27 after serving 24 years for
multiple murders. DW-WORLD.DE's readers responded to the decision.
The following comments reflect the views of our readers. Not all reader
comments have been published. DW-WORLD.DE reserves the right to edit for
length and appropriateness of content.
The pardoning of a murderer, in particular a murderer who has never expressed
sorrow, is frightening. There must be consequences for one's crimes and
Brigitte Mohnhaupt and her colleagues cannot be an exception regardless of
whether or not they pose a threat to society. This has nothing to do with
mercy and everything to do with responsibility. A bewildering decision –
something I thought only our politicians were capable of. - Richard Henry,
East Cobb County, Georgia, US (lived in Germany from 1979 to 1988)
Upon Brigitte Mohnhaupt's parole, Germany will become a more dangerous place.
While I cannot be sure if Mohnhaupt will commit another crime, thousands of
terrorists will be emboldened by the decision to release her. Those who will
contemplate committing such crimes in the future can rest assured that if they
are caught they will be well cared for and eventually released by the German
state. - Martin Peterson, Texas, US
Releasing a person who killed nine people after serving such a short time is a
disgrace. She is responsible for her choices, justice needs to be done. Mercy
is shown by helping people who are oppressed unfairly, which there is plenty
of opportunity to do in the world today. Human dignity is shown by the respect
of life, and this can be shown by keeping somebody who took nine lives in
prison. - Glenn Snider, US
Prison director Wolfgang Deuschl shows the correctional facility where
Mohnhaupt stayed Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der
Bildunterschrift: Prison director Wolfgang Deuschl shows the correctional
facility where Mohnhaupt stayed
To me that is not an act of justice, but an act of mercy. I am not against
mercy, we all need it at times, but I can see how confusing it would be to
those who have suffered and still suffer by what she has done. I think
acknowledgement of guilt would be a small token to pay for one's freedom.
However, this might not be the hour. It might seem forced and that would make
a mockery of requesting pardon. I am held back by the fact that, all these
years, Brigitte Mohnhaupt never acknowledged her fault and asked for a pardon
regardless of whether that would have shortened her time in prison or not. -
Elisabeth Heptner, US
Mistake. This will only embolden terrorists worldwide through false charity.
Logic has no conscience. What courts believe is humane and kind in this matter
is exactly what underpins terrorist support -- they won. No remorse from the
Red Army Faction about their actions that killed over 50 people. In for a
penny, in for a dime. A group like this is one reason I joined the US
Military. I was born in Frankfurt am Main back in 1957 and joined the US Air
Force in 1980, right in the middle of RAF terrorism. I felt compelled to some
kind of service to help further freedom and democracy versus becoming a cop
and helping to create even more of a police state. Yet releasing such monsters
back into society is neither charitable or logical. - James Woods
The German government has to show that it is capable of showing mercy to mass
murderers? These are people who have lost the right to be part of humanity.
What makes you think that after 25 years they have developed respect for human
life? Show your compassion to the victims and their relatives. Anything else
is stupid. Those in government who think that this is mercy have a perverted
sense of justice. Think of the victims, you fools. - W. Rode
Compiled by DW staff (kjb)