Brigitte Mohnhaup freed after 24 years
MrBrian
Posts: 2,672
Sun Mar 25, 6:35 AM ET
AICHACH, Germany (AFP) - Brigitte Mohnhaupt, a former leader of the Red Army Faction group which terrorised Germany in the 1970s, left jail Sunday after serving 24 years for a series of guerrilla murders.
The plan to release the 57-year-old Mohnhaupt, who was once considered Germany's most dangerous woman, on parole has caused widespread controversy.
Mohnhaupt, who was convicted for her role in nine murders in the left wing group's campaign against the West German state in the 1970s, was released from a prison in southern Germany in the early hours, justice official Wolfgang Deuschl said.
"Frau Mohnhaupt has been freed," he told reporters, adding that the woman was collected at the prison by friends.
The RAF's campaign reached a bloody crescendo in the so-called German Autumn in 1977 when they kidnapped and killed leading industrialist and former Nazi Hanns-Martin Schleyer and hijacked a Lufthansa passenger plane with the help of Palestinian militants.
Schleyer's widow was among those who opposed Mohnhaupt's release, saying she was "appalled" at the move.
The RAF is believed to have killed 34 people. Its other victims include the head of Dresdner Bank, Juergen Ponto, who was shot dead on his doorstep.
The group also launched attacks against US military personnel stationed in Germany.
In 1981, Mohnhaupt helped to launch a rocket attack on an American general, Frederick Kroesen. He barely survived.
The RAF disbanded in 1988, but the hardliners and their class war still fascinates Germans.
In recent days newspapers have recalled the violence-filled German Autumn in detail.
Some 20 former militants of the group have been freed after serving lengthy sentences.
Only three still remain behind bars, including Christian Klar who led the group along with Mohnhaupt.
Klar was last month refused prison day releases after calling for "the total defeat of the capitalists' aims" in a speech read out on his behalf at a Marxist meeting in Berlin.
Mohnhaupt's release comes as Italy is again confronted with the memory of the Red Brigades, who conducted a similar anti-capitalist struggle in the 1970s, with the arrest of fugitive Cesare Battisti who was long sheltered in France.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070325/wl_afp/germanyattacksjustice
----
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Mohnhaupt
AICHACH, Germany (AFP) - Brigitte Mohnhaupt, a former leader of the Red Army Faction group which terrorised Germany in the 1970s, left jail Sunday after serving 24 years for a series of guerrilla murders.
The plan to release the 57-year-old Mohnhaupt, who was once considered Germany's most dangerous woman, on parole has caused widespread controversy.
Mohnhaupt, who was convicted for her role in nine murders in the left wing group's campaign against the West German state in the 1970s, was released from a prison in southern Germany in the early hours, justice official Wolfgang Deuschl said.
"Frau Mohnhaupt has been freed," he told reporters, adding that the woman was collected at the prison by friends.
The RAF's campaign reached a bloody crescendo in the so-called German Autumn in 1977 when they kidnapped and killed leading industrialist and former Nazi Hanns-Martin Schleyer and hijacked a Lufthansa passenger plane with the help of Palestinian militants.
Schleyer's widow was among those who opposed Mohnhaupt's release, saying she was "appalled" at the move.
The RAF is believed to have killed 34 people. Its other victims include the head of Dresdner Bank, Juergen Ponto, who was shot dead on his doorstep.
The group also launched attacks against US military personnel stationed in Germany.
In 1981, Mohnhaupt helped to launch a rocket attack on an American general, Frederick Kroesen. He barely survived.
The RAF disbanded in 1988, but the hardliners and their class war still fascinates Germans.
In recent days newspapers have recalled the violence-filled German Autumn in detail.
Some 20 former militants of the group have been freed after serving lengthy sentences.
Only three still remain behind bars, including Christian Klar who led the group along with Mohnhaupt.
Klar was last month refused prison day releases after calling for "the total defeat of the capitalists' aims" in a speech read out on his behalf at a Marxist meeting in Berlin.
Mohnhaupt's release comes as Italy is again confronted with the memory of the Red Brigades, who conducted a similar anti-capitalist struggle in the 1970s, with the arrest of fugitive Cesare Battisti who was long sheltered in France.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070325/wl_afp/germanyattacksjustice
----
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Mohnhaupt
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
They love you so badly for sharing their sorrow, so pick up that guitar and go break a heart - Kris Kristofferson
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
I think you know that is bullshit....seems to me you are trying to antagonize people into an arguement more than anything.
I think you know we have differring opinions here. I'd like say one thing without being harrassed about trying to antagonize the masses. This thread is still young. If Chequevara still has the balls to stick his head in this forum you'll see what I mean. But, since I spoke first, most of you will without a doubt jump to the highroad in an attempt to save face. That's fine. I have no problem speaking first.
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08