A FORMER member of Germany’s left-wing militant Red Army Faction (RAF) has been charged with involvement in the 1977 murder of West Germany’s federal prosecutor.
Verena Becker (57) served a life sentence for involvement in other RAF crimes and was pardoned in 1989. Now she could find herself behind bars again after DNA tests linked her to the shooting of Siegfried Buback, his driver and a court official in April 1977.
While Buback’s car was stopped at traffic lights in the southern city of Karlsruhe, a motorcycle pulled up and the pillion passenger shot 15 times through the car windows.
The killings were part of a spectacular campaign by the so-called second-generation RAF members aimed at forcing the release of the imprisoned founders of the gang, a terrorist offshoot of the 1968 student revolution.
Four gang members including Ms Becker were arrested in connection with the killing. The other three were jailed for life.
Ms Becker was arrested in possession of the gun used to kill Buback but she did not go on trial for the killing. In recent years, speculation has grown that Ms Becker collaborated with the police during her time in prison. Several RAF experts have suggested this alleged co-operation would explain why she was not charged in the Buback case.
In 2008 prosecutors gave in to pressure from Buback’s family and reopened the case, putting evidence through DNA testing not available at the time of the killing.
Test results on a motorcycle glove, helmet and jacket found after the killing have ruled out a direct link to Ms Becker but DNA tests have reportedly connected her to letters sent by the RAF on the day of the killing.
For three decades, surviving gang members have refused to reveal who drove the motorcycle and who pulled the trigger.