[Ppnews] Former Baader-Meinhof cell member arrested - was secret service informer

[Political Prisoner News]

Baader-Meinhof gang member was secret service informer

By Tony Paterson in Berlin

Thursday, 3 September 2009

Verena Becker, the former German Red Army Faction 
member arrested last week over her links to a 
spectacular political murder committed 32 years 
ago, worked for years as a secret service informant, it emerged yesterday.

Ms Becker, now 57, was paid to help capture 
leaders of the left-wing terrorist group, also 
known as the Baader-Meinhof gang, according to 
senior former intelligence figures who spoke in a 
television documentary screened last night. The 
revelations came after she was arrested at her 
home in Berlin last Friday when police found new 
evidence implicating her in the killing of 
Siegfried Buback. The chief West German federal 
prosecutor was shot dead in 1977 by masked RAF 
attackers on a motorcycle while he was driving to work in Karlsruhe.

The arrest seemed to provide an answer to a 
mystery surrounding one of post-war Germany's 
most notorious murders, particularly implanted in 
the public consciousness since its brutal 
depiction in last year's film, The Baader-Meinhof 
Complex. But yesterday's revelations have further complicated the story.

While Becker was caught and jailed for life in 
1977, it was not for the Buback killing. She was 
sentenced instead for seriously injuring a 
policeman whom she shot shortly before her 
arrest. Freed on compassionate grounds in 1989, 
until last week she had been living under a new name in Berlin.

Michael Buback, the murdered man's son, said 
yesterday he was convinced that the authorities 
had protected Becker. "For my wife, Elizabeth, 
and myself it has become a certainty that the 
perpetrators on the motorcycle were not punished 
for their crimes, and that there was a protective 
hand shielding one RAF woman terrorist," he said 
in an interview with Germany's Die Zeit magazine.

In last night's film on the ARD channel, former 
intelligence officials said that Becker was a key 
paid informant for German security services on the RAF.

"Verena Becker turned to us because she found 
herself in a difficult personal situation," said 
Winfried Ridder, a former intelligence officer. 
He disclosed how Becker provided the crucial 
tip-offs that led to the arrest of RAF leaders 
Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Christian Klar, who were 
only recently released from prison after serving 
life terms for the Buback killing and other murders carried out by the gang.

Becker also provided key information on the RAF's 
structure and decision-making processes. Mr 
Ridder said she was paid for her information. He 
did not name a sum, but German media reports said 
yesterday that she was paid the equivalent of about €50,000.
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Former Baader-Meinhof cell member arrested

http://www.expatica.com/de/news/german-news/Former-Baader_Meinhof-cell-member-arrested-_55822.html#

Officers seized Verena Becker for complicity in 
the shooting of chief federal prosecutor 
Siegfried Buback on April 7, 1977, during the 
bloody era which became known as the "German Autumn."

Berlin -- German prosecutors said on Friday they 
had arrested a former member of the left-wing 
extremist group, the Baader-Meinhof gang, over a murder committed 32 years ago.

Officers from the federal crime bureau seized 
Verena Becker, 57, on Thursday for complicity in 
the shooting of chief federal prosecutor 
Siegfried Buback on April 7, 1977, during the 
bloody era which became known as the "German Autumn."

"Following our investigations until now, there is 
no suspicion that the accused fired the deadly 
shots," prosecutors said, adding however that she 
is suspected of "an active role in preparing and carrying out" the attack.

The case was re-opened in April 2008 when 
investigators used the latest forensic technology 
to examine the letter sent claiming responsibility for the murder.

This investigation enabled the authorities to 
identify Becker's DNA on the letter, leading them 
to raid her house last week, where they secured other incriminating evidence.

Becker was already sentenced to life behind bars 
in December 1977 for taking part in at least six 
assassination attempts claimed by the group, 
otherwise known as the Red Army Faction, but was pardoned in 1989 and released.

Earlier this week in an interview with mass 
circulation daily Bild, Becker denied taking part 
in the attack on Buback's chauffeur-driven car.

The gang, known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang after 
its founders Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, 
mounted a violent campaign against what it 
considered was the oppressive capitalist state of 
West Germany from 1977 to 1982.

It targeted the German elite and the US military 
bases in Germany and is suspected of killing 34 
people. The group officially disbanded in 1998.

AFP/Expatica




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