Disbanding Revolutionary Cells German Terrorists Turn Themselves In
They have been wanted for almost two decades. But finally two alleged German terrorists who belonged to the group Revolutionary Cells (RZ) have turned themselves in to authorities as part of an agreement which will see them stand trial but not serve any jail time.
The two -- named Adrienne Gerhäuser and Thomas Kram, both 58, according to a report in Die Tageszeitung -- gave themselves up last December, but their surrender was first reported in DER SPIEGEL over the weekend.
German authorities hold the RZ, which saw itself as part of the anarchy movement, responsible for over 185 arson and bomb attacks from 1973 to 1987. The group, sometimes referred to as "after-work terrorists" due to their cell structure which allowed them to remain anonymous and live otherwise ordinary lives, remained largely intact until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Prominent members of the group only began falling into the hands of the authorities in 1999.
The RZ maintained contact to the better-known Red Army Faction (RAF), as well as to Palestinian groups. It is best known for participating in the attack in 1975 on the OPEC headquarters in Vienna as well as the hijacking of an Air France jet on the way from Tel Aviv to Entebbe, Uganda. Gerhäuser and Kram are said to have been part of an attack on a genetic institute in Berlin in Oct. 18, 1986.
The report comes as a debate continues in Germany as to whether the former RAF terrorists Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Christian Klar should be released after almost a quarter century in prison. The two, both of who were implicated in the brutal murders of a number of top members of Germany's establishment in the 1970s, were part of an RAF terror campaign that claimed the lives of 34 people as well as 27 RAF members. A decision on Mohnhaupt's release is expected this month.
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