Birgit Hogefeld
Birgit Elisabeth Hogefeld is a former member of the Red Army Faction, a German far‑left terrorist organization. She is regarded as one of the leading figures of the group's third generation. From 1985 onward, she was involved in several RAF attacks. Hogefeld was arrested in 1993 and, in 1996, was sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple murders and other offences. She was released on parole in June 2011, becoming the last imprisoned RAF member to be freed.
Early life
Born in 1956 in Wiesbaden, Hogefeld joined the RAF in 1984, going underground long after its founding members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Ulrike Meinhof had died. She later began a relationship with fellow RAF member Wolfgang Grams, and the two moved in together.Arrest
On 27 June 1993, Hogefeld and Grams arrived at the Bad Kleinen railway station, where officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office and the GSG 9 counter‑terrorism unit were waiting to arrest them. In the days immediately beforehand, Hogefeld had spent several days with, Steinmetz was a for the Rhineland‑Palatinate Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Steinmetz had succeeded in gaining the trust of the RAF's command level. From the early 1990s onward, he had met with Hogefeld and Grams several times and had even driven Grams' parents to a meeting with them. After Steinmetz informed the authorities about the planned meeting, they prepared a large‑scale operation.According to the GSG 9 officers, Hogefeld and Grams opened fire on them on sight; Grams fatally shot an officer, Michael Newrzella. According to the police, Grams then committed suicide and fell onto the train tracks. However, it was suspected by some that Grams had been shot and killed by GSG 9 officers. The Staatsanwaltschaft Schwerin investigated these allegations and concluded in January 1994 that they were unfounded. Gram' parents challenged this conclusion in court, but it was upheld by five different courts, including the European Court of Human Rights in 1999. Interior Minister Rudolf Seiters took responsibility for the poor conduct and handling of the operation and resigned in July of that year, as did Chief Federal Prosecutor Alexander von Stahl.
Sentencing
Several terrorist activities that Hogefeld was later found guilty of by a Higher Court in Germany were;- The murder of a young GI, Edward Pimental, in 1985 to obtain his I.D. to access the grounds of the U.S. Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt. Supposedly Hogefeld lured him to her home after meeting him in a bar, where he was then shot through the neck and killed. Eva Haule was also involved with Pimental's murder.
- A bombing attack on the aforementioned U.S. airbase, which killed A1C Frank Scarton and Becky Jo Bristol and left twenty others injured.
- A failed assassination attempt on Hans Tietmeyer, former President of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
- The destruction of a jail.
- Involvement in a terrorist organisation.
In 2008, federal president Horst Köhler denied her clemency request.
Hogefeld was released on parole in June 2011.