- Verena Becker
Verena Becker (born
31 July 1952 inBerlin-Wilmersdorf ) was aWest German member of theleftist terrorist Movement 2 June and later theRed Army Faction .Terrorist career
Before turning to a life of crime, Becker was a
student . She initially joinedMovement 2 June (J2M) and was involved in bank robberies [http://www.faz.net/s/Rub117C535CDF414415BB243B181B8B60AE/Doc~EE263F6E2AE0A47368BB2A47EA7470D8D~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html] and the bombing of a Britishyacht club inWest Berlin on2 February 1972 [de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verena_Becker] . J2M claimed this bombing was in support of theIRA . Becker was subsequently arrested and on13 February 1974 she was tried and found guilty of involvement in the bombing. She was sentenced to six years in prison, though a year later was freed and flown toAden ,Southern Yemen as part of the exchange deal proposed by thePeter Lorenz kidnappers. [Becker, Jillian.Hitler's Children : Story of the Baader-Meinhof Terrorist Gang, DIANE Publishing Company 1998, ISBN 0788154729 or Panther edition 1978, ISBN 0586046658, "Page. 334"]At some point between 1975 and 1976, Becker returned to West Germany. She became involved in the second generation RAF re-grouped around
Siegfried Haag , and it is likely that she came in contact with him whilst in Yemen, as he was there at the same time.There is some evidence [http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,478928,00.html] suggesting that Verena Becker took part in the assassination of Chief Federal Prosecutor
Siegfried Buback on7 April 1977 , though she herself claimsStefan Wisniewski was the one who killed him.DNA evidence however indicates that Becker probably did not take part in the killing. [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3506492,00.html] The case has been reopened. de iconPrantl, Heribert: [http://www.sueddeutsche.de/,tt1l4/deutschland/artikel/76/110965/ Wisniewski? Stefan Wisniewski?] .Süddeutsche Zeitung online. Accessed January 3, 2008.]Arrest
In
Singen ,May 1977, Becker and fellow terroristGünter Sonnenberg were spotted by police. Alarmed, Becker and Sonnenberg tried to flee. A gunfight ensued which left two police officers badly wounded. Sonnenberg and Becker attempted to drive off in a stolen vehicle, only to drive into a dead-end street. They abandoned the vehicle and ran, but were shot down and arrested. Sonnenberg was seriously injured by a gunshot wound to the head, and Becker was shot in the leg. Asubmachine gun was found in their abandoned car. It turned out to be the gun used to assassinate Buback. [Becker, Jillian.Hitler's Children : Story of the Baader-Meinhof Terrorist Gang, DIANE Publishing Company 1998, ISBN 0788154729 or Panther edition 1978, ISBN 0586046658, "Page. 334"]Imprisonment
In late 1977 Becker was sentenced to
life imprisonment [http://labourhistory.net/raf/chronology.php] for her involvement in a criminal organisation.She was released from prison in 1989 after being pardoned by
Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker . [http://www.faz.net/s/Rub117C535CDF414415BB243B181B8B60AE/Doc~EE263F6E2AE0A47368BB2A47EA7470D8D~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html] She now lives anonymously inGermany , under an assumed name. [de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verena_Becker]References
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