Access in Berlin - False alarm: person arrested not ex-RAF terrorist
False Alarm Instead of Arrest Success: In the course of the investigation into the former RAF terrorists Ernst-Volker Staub (69) and Burkhard Garweg (55), the police temporarily detained a man at Berlin-Spandau station. However, the person in question is not an ex-terrorist. "Investigations have shown that the person is not one of the wanted individuals," said Martin Schanz, spokesperson for the Verden public prosecutor's office, to Deutsche Presse-Agentur. The man's release has been ordered.
The Verden public prosecutor's office has been investigating Staub, Garweg, and Daniela Klette (65) since 2015 for attempted murder and attempted and completed severe robbery in several cases. Klette was arrested at the end of February this year in Berlin-Kreuzberg, where she had been living under a false name.
LKA: "Not the Suspected Robber"
A tip from the public led to the temporary arrest of the man in Berlin on Tuesday evening. An identity check was carried out, and it was determined that he was not one of the suspected robbers, the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA) announced. According to dpa information, a DNA comparison was made. For privacy reasons, the authorities did not provide any further information about the person being controlled.
The 65-year-old former RAF terrorist Klette is currently in pre-trial detention in the women's prison in Vechta. Her lawyer, Lukas Theune, told dpa that the indictment against Klette is expected to be filed in the fall. The Verden Regional Court would then be responsible for the trial.
Between 1999 and 2016, Klette, Garweg, and Staub are suspected of having robbed money transport vehicles and supermarkets in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia to finance their lives underground. The suspicion of attempted murder is being investigated because shots were also fired during the robberies.
In addition, arrest warrants have been issued against Klette, Staub, and Garweg for suspected involvement in terrorist attacks. They belonged to the so-called third generation of the left-wing extremist Red Army Faction (RAF). In 1998, the RAF, which had killed more than 30 people, declared itself dissolved.
Confusion Occurred Several Times
In recent months, several people have been checked who were mistaken for Garweg or Staub. Most recently, there was a large police operation in Berlin in mid-July because witnesses claimed to have seen Staub on a passenger ship on the Spree. This turned out to be a false alarm after the person's details were checked.
The Federal Criminal Police Office is searching for Garweg, among others, using a photo that shows him with two dogs and was found in Klette's apartment. Weapons, ammunition, and money were also secured in the apartment. The investigators were already close on the 55-year-old's heels. Shortly after Klette's arrest, they seized the caravan in Berlin-Friedrichshain where Garweg was reportedly living under the alias Martin.
The temporary detention of the individual at Berlin-Spandau station resulted in a discovery that he was not involved in the crimes committed by the former RAF terrorists, consequently, he was not one of the suspects in the ongoing crime investigations.
Despite several confusion instances where individuals resembling Garweg or Staub were checked, the actual suspects remain at large, and an intense search continues, led by the Federal Criminal Police Office.
