03/04/2024 03:04 (current 03/04/2024 03:10)
Wanted RAF terror suspect Burkhard Garweg ©APA/AFP
In the search for two former RAF terrorists, police searched another apartment in Berlin. The measure taken on Sunday evening in the district of Friedrichshain is linked to the search for Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, a spokeswoman for the main Criminal Police Department of the State of Lower Saxony told dpa. Police had already discovered a trailer that apparently served as Garweg's hideout. There were no arrests.
Garweg, who has been wanted for more than 30 years, “probably” lived in a caravan at a site in Berlin's Friedrichshain neighborhood, according to an LKA spokesman. However, Garweg was no longer found during a major operation at the site; like former RAF member Staub, he is still being sought.
Berlin police, agents from the LKA and the Federal Criminal Police moved to the area on Sunday morning. According to Berlin police, the property is a vacant lot used mainly by the alternative scenario, where there are barracks, mobile homes, caravans and buildings. It is also said that Garweg stayed there. During the search of the area, “the suspected accommodation of Burkhard Garweg could probably be identified,” said the LKA spokesman.
The caravan was confiscated and transported on Monday night. According to a DPA reporter, the construction trailer, which was about eight meters long and 2.50 meters wide and covered in metal sheets, was towed by a Technical Assistance Agency truck. The trailer is expected to be forensically examined in the coming days, the LKA spokeswoman said. It is not yet clear how long the operation will last. Search measures continued.
The caravan has been confiscated and is now being transported for further investigation. “The apartment is now being examined by forensics,” said the LKA spokeswoman. “The evaluation will probably take a few days.”
The LKA did not provide any information on how long Garweg had been at the site – but it was a “more recent period”. During the large-scale operation, the police arrested ten people, but this was only to establish their identities, as investigators announced after the end of the operation.
The LKA spokesman said there were no shots fired during the operation – there were “sounds of gunfire as part of tactical door opening”. The Berlin S-Bahn stopped operating on four lines during operation in the area of the property.
Garweg and Staub allegedly committed armed robberies together with RAF terrorist suspect Daniela Klette, who was arrested last Monday, to finance their clandestine life of more than 30 years. The Verden Public Prosecutor's Office is therefore investigating, among other things, attempted murder.
The LKA has recently significantly intensified the search for wanted former RAF members Garweg and Staub in and around Berlin. The backdrop is the arrest of alleged RAF terrorist Klette in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Investigators suspect that the two wanted men may also be in Berlin. Police published new photos of Garweg, which were reportedly taken between 2021 and 2024.
Klette was arrested at her apartment in Berlin-Kreuzberg and detained after being identified by fingerprints. The woman, now 65, is said to have lived unrecognized in Berlin for years.
Burdock, Staub and Garweg are attributed to the third generation of the left-wing extremist RAF, which no longer became visible after declaring itself disbanded in 1998. The murders committed by this third generation remain unsolved. The investigations against the trio, which have been ongoing for several years by the public prosecutor's office in Verden, Lower Saxony, only concern allegations of a series of attacks in which attempted murder had occurred.
Former German Interior Minister Gerhart Baum, from the FDP, complained to the Germany editorial network that the actions of the third generation had gone unpunished. “The third generation RAF murders are unsolved. Law enforcement has not made any progress,” Baum said. “It's an open wound and a terrible vacuum. And it's a burden on relatives.” Because the perpetrators would be walking around freely.
Those murdered included the then CEO of Deutsche Bank, Alfred Herrhausen, and the chief administrator, Detlev Karsten Rohwedder. Baum said Klette's arrest opens the situation up again. With the weapons found on her, there's better evidence.