German Court Orders Release Of Far-Left Terrorist

BERLIN, Feb. 12 — A German court today ordered the release of Brigitte Mohnhaupt, a leading member of the far-left terrorist Red Army Faction who has spent 24 years in prison for carrying out several kidnappings and murders in the 1970s.

The decision to release her on March 27 set off sharp protests, led by the German police union, but the ruling was welcomed by several political parties, including the Social Democrats and the Free Democrats.

Konrad Freiberg, chairman of the police union, said the courts decision left a bitter taste, adding that the murders that Ms. Mohnhaupt committed would never be forgotten. Günther Beckstein, interior minister of Bavaria, also criticized the court, saying the former terrorist had shown no signs of regret.

Ms. Mohnhaupt was a leading member of the Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang, along with its founding members, Ulrike Meinhof and Andreas Baader. It began in the 1968 student protest movement but evolved into an armed struggle against capitalism. Its activities included bank robberies, bomb attacks on government buildings and American military sites, kidnappings and assassinations.

The court in the southern German city of Stuttgart stressed today that Ms. Mohnhaupts release was not a pardon.

Rather, the court said in a statement, it is a decision that is based on specific legal considerations. The decision for probation was reached based on the determination that no security risk exists. After her release, Ms. Mohnhaupt will remain on probation for five years.

Ms. Mohnhaupt, 57, was given five life sentences plus 15 years in 1985 for her involvement in the murder of Hanns-Martin Schleyer, a leading industrialist; Jürgen Ponto, chairman of Dresdner Bank, and Siegfried Buback, a federal prosecutor. In all, the Red Army Faction murdered 34 people beginning in the early 1970s. It disbanded in 1998.

Dirk Schleyer, son of Hanns-Martin Schleyer, said the courts decision was a perversion of justice.

But several former ministers who had been in government during the groups wave of violence agreed with the courts decision. Gerhart Baum, interior minister from 1978 to 1982 and a member of the opposition Free Democrats, said the decision was the correct one. A state based on the rule of law is mature enough to give a perspective of freedom to one who has been given a life sentence. Under German law, life sentences get a first review after 15 years.

Mr. Mohnhaupts pending release immediately increased speculation surrounding the fate of another leading member of the Red Army Faction, Christian Klar.

Mr. Klar, 54, wrote to President Horst Köhler last year seeking a pardon.

Under normal circumstances, Mr. Klar, who has also served 24 years, would be scheduled for parole in two years.

Mr. Kohler is not expected to make a decision for several months, according to people in the presidents office. It is the first time that Mr. Köhler, former head of the International Monetary Fund and a supporter of Chancellor Angela Merkels conservative Christian Democratic Union party, has been asked to issue a pardon since his election in June 2004. Several other people convicted of terrorist crimes were released by his predecessors.

Mr. Baum said Mr. Klar had shown some signs of remorse for his crimes. This is Mr. Klars second request for a pardon.

Unlike several other former members of the Red Army Faction, Ms. Mohnhaupt has expressed no remorse and has avoided the news media.

Born into a comfortable middle-class family in June 1949, Ms. Mohnhaupt studied English and history at Munich University. There, she joined a commune, participated in student protests and later helped established the Red Army Faction.

Ms. Mohnhaupt and Ms. Klar were arrested in 1982 and sentenced three years later.

Since 1990, eight members of the Red Army Faction have been released from prison, either through parole or pardon. Several committed suicide. Only 4 of the 26 sent to prison remain behind bars.

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