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Terrorist Request Rejected

DW staff (jg)July 29, 2008

A German court has turned down a request for early release from a former left-wing terrorist serving life for killing a US soldier and the bombing of a US base in Frankfurt in 1985 in which two others died.

https://p.dw.com/p/Elq8
Birgit Hogefeld
Birgit Hogefeld, as she was in 1994Image: dpa

Ex-Red Army Faction member Birgit Hogefeld has been in jail for 15 years. A court in Frankfurt ruled on Tuesday, July 29, that she must serve at least another three years before she might be considered eligible for parole because of the "severity of the crimes."

The 52-year-old was convicted in 1996 for the murder of a 20-year-old US soldier in 1985. His ID card was then used to gain access to the Rhine-Main air base in Frankfurt. Another two soldiers were killed and 23 injured in a car bombing in which Hogefeld and other Red Army Faction members were involved.

Hogefeld was also found guilty of the attempted murder of the then German Deputy Finance Minister Hanns Tietmeyer and his driver.

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