A Baader-Meinhof gang member has appeared in court to face charges
she helped plan one of the German left-wing guerrilla outfit's most
cold-blooded assassinations in 1977.
01 Oct 2010
With her eyes hidden behind large black sunglasses, Verena Becker,
58, refused to comment on accusations that she played a part in
shooting West Germany's top prosecutor 33 years ago.
Siegfried Buback and his chauffeur died immediately when a motorbike
pulled up next to their Mercedes as it waited at traffic lights and
the pillion passenger opened fire with an automatic weapon in the
southwestern city of Karlsruhe.
The attack, in which a third person in the limousine died from his
injuries a few days later, marked the start of the "German Autumn,"
the peak of the gang's reign of terror which was to shake the country
to its core.
Other members of the murderous "anti-imperialist" outfit have been
convicted for the killings, but the person with the gun has never
been identified.
The case was closed in 1980 but was reopened in 2008 when Becker's
DNA was found on a letter from the gang, better known to Germans as
the Red Army Faction (RAF), claiming responsibility for Buback's death.
The unmarried, childless Becker was re-arrested in August 2009,
released on bail in December and charged in April with conspiracy to
murder. She continued to live freely in Berlin with her sister.
Becker is not accused of being the one who pulled the trigger,
however, only that she helped plan and prepare the attack.
But Buback's son is "99 per cent" sure that she was the one who
killed his father.
"Around 20 witnesses saw a woman on the motorbike," Michael Buback,
who is a co-plaintiff in the trial, told reporters.
According to press reports, she has denied involvement and even told
investigators another militant, Stefan Wisniewski, fired the shots.
The gang took up arms against what they considered an oppressive
capitalist state still riddled with former Nazis, killing 34 people
in attacks on West Germany's elite and US military bases before
disbanding in 1998.
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