Daniela Klette

Daniela Klette
Born
Daniela Marie Luise Klette

(1958-11-05) 5 November 1958 (age 67)
Karlsruhe, West Germany
OrganizationRed Army Faction

Daniela Marie Luise Klette (born 5 November 1958) is a German left-wing militant who is regarded as a former member of the Red Army Faction's third generation. After going underground in the 1990s, she lived for decades in Berlin under the pseudonym Claudia Ivone. After the RAF disbanded in 1998, she was arrested in 2024 as one of the last three members still on the run. From March 2025, she stood trial before the major criminal chamber of the Verden Regional Court (Landgericht) on charges of attempted murder, unlawful possession of weapons, and both attempted and completed aggravated robbery in connection with 13 robberies. On 27 May 2026, she was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but acquitted of the attempted‑murder charge due to withdrawal from the attempt. She was not prosecuted for earlier terrorist offences because the statute of limitations had expired.

Early life

Daniela Marie Luise Klette was born on 5 November 1958 in Karlsruhe, West Germany.

Activism and militancy

Klette was active in left-wing groups from 1975 onward. These groups included the Anti-NATO movement and initiatives against the construction of Runway 18 West at Frankfurt Airport.

Klette is alleged to have been a member of the third generation Red Army Faction active during the 1980s and 1990s. Klette is a suspect in the 1991 United States embassy sniper attack in Bonn and the 1993 bombing of a prison in Weiterstadt in the state of Hesse. In the 1990s, she went underground, living openly for decades in Berlin under a false name. In 1999, Klette, Burkhard Garweg, and Ernst-Volker Staub were suspected of robbing DM 1 million from an armoured vehicle in Duisburg.

Referred to by the press as "RAF pensioners", Staub, Garweg, and Klette are also associated with several robberies in the 2000s and 2010s: in Bochum-Wattenscheid (27 December 2006), Wolfsburg (28 December 2015), Cremlingen (25 June 2016) and Stuhr (6 June 2015). The German public prosecutor's office had been investigating the three since 2015 for attempted murder and various attempted and completed aggravated robberies between 1999 and 2016. In 2016, three Germans matching their description were mistakenly arrested by Dutch police after renting a farmhouse near Medemblik in the north of the Netherlands.

The Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Police Office) put out a public appeal for information leading to her arrest, or that of accomplices Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub, offering a reward of €150,000.

Arrest

Police received a tip-off from the public about Klette's whereabouts in November 2023. Following this, on 26 February 2024, Klette was arrested in Berlin by Lower Saxony Landeskriminalamt and the Berlin Police without resistance. At the time of her arrest, it was unclear how she managed to stay underground for 30 years.

She was charged with involvement in six armed robberies in which millions of euros were stolen, and at least one attempted murder. The crimes, which were not committed in RAF's name, were alleged to have been committed between 1999 and 2016. Garweg and Staub were also alleged to have been involved. She was initially held in a prison in Vechta. In March 2026 it was reported that the Federal Prosecutor General had laid charges against Klette for attempted murder in 20 cases in relation to the 1991 sniper attack.

Klette lived in the neighbourhood of Kreuzberg. Police said she was in possession of fake Italian identification documents. She had a public Facebook account, to which she had uploaded photos of herself. Her photo as "Claudia Ivone" in a capoeira club in Kreuzberg was possibly[clarification needed] found by Khesrau Behroz [de] and Bellingcat researcher Michael Colborne, using the face biometrics software PimEyes for the Legion: Most Wanted podcast. Under German law, police are not permitted to use facial recognition software.

At the time of her arrest, Klette did not comment about the allegations made against her or her alleged RAF comrades.

Trial and sentence

Klette's trial began on 25 March 2025 in a mid-level court (Landgericht) in Celle, and later moved to a more secure location in Verden.

The charge of attempted murder connected with the robberies was dismissed by the court, though prosecutors charged Klette with a separate count of attempted murder, to be tried subsequently. No terrorism charges were brought, as the statute of limitations for them had expired.

During closing arguments, Klette addressed the court. She justified her actions and apologised to the employees of the cash transit vans robbed. She did not confirm she had been a member of the RAF. Klette was convicted of aggravated robbery, weapons offenses, and other charges stemming from armed robberies committed between 1999 and 2016. On 27 May 2026 she was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Media coverage

The Lower Saxon authorities gave a live press conference announcing Klette's arrest. The state's Interior Minister Daniela Behrens (SPD) spoke of a "milestone" in German criminal history.

Klette's sentencing was extensively reported in Germany and internationally, including in the UK, France, the Nordic countries and Australia.

Petra Terhoeven, a historian specialised in the impact of left-wing terrorism on German society, criticised the "hype" around the arrest of Klette and the coverage of the RAF in general, and also asked for the RAF not to be lionised and its victims to be respected.

References

  1. ↑ Cole, Deborah; Burke, Jason (8 June 2026). "The jailing of Germany's most wanted woman". The Guardian.
  2. 1 2 3 Cole, Deborah (27 May 2026). "Germany's most wanted woman jailed after three decades evading police". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ "Daniela Marie Luise Klette". Open Sanctions. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Public appeal for information relating to the location of Daniela KLETTE" (PDF). Landeskriminalamt Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony Land Criminal Police Office). 14 February 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2024. German URL
  5. ↑ Alexander Straßner: Die dritte Generation der "Roten Armee Fraktion": Entstehung, Struktur, Funktionslogik und Zerfall einer terroristischen Organisation. Westdeutscher Verlag, Wiesbaden 2003, S. 108.
  6. 1 2 "A former member of Germany's Red Army Faction has been arrested after decades in hiding". AP News. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  7. ↑ "Far-left RAF terror suspect Daniela Klette arrested". Deutsche Welle. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  8. ↑ "German Red Army Faction trio wanted by Dutch police". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 26 July 2016.
  9. ↑ Alexander Straßner: Die dritte Generation der „Roten Armee Fraktion": Entstehung, Struktur, Funktionslogik und Zerfall einer terroristischen Organisation. Westdeutscher Verlag, Wiesbaden 2003, S. 142.
  10. ↑ von Billerbeck, Liane (20 January 2016). "Fahndung nach mutmaßlichen Terroristen - 'Die dritte RAF-Generation ist komplett gescheitert'" (Interview) (in German). Interviewed by Christian von Ditfurth. Deutschlandfunk Kultur.
  11. ↑ Moncourt, A.; Smith, J. (2009). The Red Army Faction Volume 1: Projectiles for the people (ebook ed.). Montreal, Quebec: Kersplebedeb. ISBN 978-1-60486-029-0.
  12. 1 2 3 McGuinness, Damien (27 February 2024). "Daniela Klette: Alleged Red Army Faction member held after 30 years". BBC. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  13. ↑ Cluskey, Peter (2 September 2016). "German tourists mistaken for notorious 1970s terror gang". Irish Times. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  14. ↑ "One of Germany's most notorious criminals arrested after decades on the run". SBS News. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  15. 1 2 Thurau, Jens (24 March 2025). "Daniela Klette: mutmaßliche RAF-Terroristin vor Gericht" [Daniela Klette: alleged RAF terrorist before court]. Deutsche Welle (in German). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  16. ↑ "Bundesanwaltschaft erhebt Anklage gegen Klette" [Public prosecutor lays charges against Klette]. tagesschau.de (in German). 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  17. ↑ Bordel, Anna; Wenzel, Simon (5 March 2024). "Was über die Suche nach den früheren RAF-Mitgliedern bislang bekannt ist" [What is known so far about the search for the former RAF members]. www.rbb24.de (in German). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  18. ↑ Solomon, Erika; Schuetze, Christopher F. (2 March 2024). "How Facial ID Tools Found a 30-Year Fugitive: What Eluded Germany Hid in Plain Sight". The New York Times. Vol. 173, no. 66081. pp. A1, A7. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  19. ↑ "Scheinbar hat Klette ganz normal ihr Leben geleb". Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 28 February 2024.
  20. ↑ Colborne, Michael (28 February 2024). ""Ich hätte lieber Neonazis gefunden"" ["I would have preferred to find neonazis"]. taz (Interview) (in German). Interviewed by Johanna Treblin. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  21. 1 2 Colborne, Michael (28 February 2024). ""Ich empfehle euch dringend, diese Spur zu verfolgen"" ["I urgently recommend you to follow this lead"]. Die Zeit (Interview) (in German). Interviewed by Joscha F. Westerkamp. ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  22. 1 2 Klein, Oliver (29 February 2024). "Warum die Polizei Klette nicht eher aufspürte" [Why police didn't track down Klette earlier]. ZDF (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  23. ↑ Behroz, Khesrau [in German] (19 December 2023). "Most Wanted: Wo ist RAF-Terroristin Daniela Klette? Monika (1/2)" [Most Wanted: Where is RAF terrorist Daniela Klette? Episode 1 of 2: Monika] (PDF). Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). In this episode Colborne is introduced to the listeners as a Bellingcat employee investigating far-right extremism and having expertise in face biometrics. Colborne matches face of the first suspect "Monika" to the face of Klette using the software by Amazon, and gives his opinion about the result that there is no match. Then it is said that using another software they have managed to find another suspect in Berlin.
  24. ↑ Behroz, Khesrau [in German] (20 December 2023). "Most Wanted: Wo ist RAF-Terroristin Daniela Klette? Felizia (2/2)" [Most Wanted: Where is RAF terrorist Daniela Klette? Episode 2 of 2: Felizia] (PDF). Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). In the episode Colborne describes the purpose of another biometric software which searches for images in the Internet having faces similar to a certain one, his use of the software, their discovery of dozens of photos of a female they nickname as "Felicia" in a Berlin capoiera club, his opinion about how much the face on the photos match the one on Klette's photo ("strongly suspect that these two individuals are the same person"), their analysis of photos on Facebook page of the club chairman, which was sharing photos and videos of the club's dance lessons there, presence of "Felicia" in some of them, and their visit to the club and observation of the photos of "Felicia" there too, and their interview to the club employee mentioning that "Felicia" has not been seen in the club for some years.
  25. ↑ Connolly, Kate (2 March 2024). "Daniela Klette: dog walker, dancer – and Germany's most-wanted woman". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 March 2024. The police are prohibited by strict privacy laws from using similar face comparison tools, instead relying on an artist's impression of how Klette might have looked aged 65.
  26. ↑ "Einsatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg: Waffen in Wohnung von Ex-RAF-Terroristin Klette gefunden – Granate entschärft". Der Spiegel (in German). 29 February 2024. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  27. 1 2 3 Knight, Ben (26 May 2026). "Germany: RAF leftist militant is found guilty". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  28. 1 2 "German ex-Red Army Faction militant gets 13 years in jail for armed robberies". BBC News. 27 May 2026. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  29. ↑ "13 Jahre Haft für Ex-RAF-Mitglied Daniela Klette". Deutsche Welle. 27 May 2016.
  30. ↑ Sievering, Stefan (27 May 2026). "13 Jahre Haft für RAF-Terroristin Daniela Klette". Bild.
  31. ↑ Parker, Jessica (27 May 2026). "Former member of German militant group jailed for armed robberies after decades on the run". BBC.
  32. ↑ Conesa, Elsa (27 May 2026). "En Allemagne, une ancienne membre de la Fraction armée rouge condamnée à treize ans de prison". Le Monde.
  33. ↑ Hovne, Anders (27 May 2026). "67-årig RAF-medlem döms efter årtionden på flykt". Omni.
  34. ↑ Soininen, Ville (27 May 2026). "Vasemmisto-terroristi tuomittiin 13 vuoden vankeuteen". Helsingin Sanomat.
  35. ↑ Lundsgaard, Jonathan Strid (27 May 2026). "En af Tysklands mest eftersøgte kvinder dømt til 13 års fængsel". DR Nyheder.
  36. ↑ "13 Jahre Haft für Ex-RAF-Terroristin Klette". ORF. 27 May 2026.
  37. ↑ Terhoeven, Petra (9 March 2024). Holger calls: Verkulten Medien die RAF immer noch? [Are the media still making the RAF a cult?] (in German). Übermedien.