Mixed Reactions

A German court's decision on Monday to set former terrorist Brigitte Mohnhaupt free on parole met with an emotional response across the country. While most political parties in Germany welcomed the move, the victims' families view Mohnhaupt's release as a blow.

Mohnhaupt was a former member of the left-wing extremist RAF, which terrorized West Germany in the 1970s and murdered a host of leading German establishment figures in their attempt to overthrow what they considered an oppressive capitalist state. She has served 24 years for her role in nine murders, including those of leading industrialist Hanns-Martin Schleyer and federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback.

Schleyer's son Dirk said he found it difficult to accept the court's decision.

"Some (victim's families) have not gotten over it; they have died, gone insane or become alcoholics," Schleyer told German television. "This should be taken into account. These people trusted the government and thought justice would prevail. It is therefore very difficult to accept this clemency."

Sabine Reichel, the daughter of Buback's murdered driver Georg Wurster, said it would have been better if the former RAF leaders spent their life in jail. But she said she didn't feel any hatred.

"It doesn't anger me, but it just isn't fair," Reichel told German news agency dpa. She said she didn't care about an official response from the RAF members on the incident.

Mohnhaupt should express regret

Conservative leaders questioned whether Mohnhaupt's release was fair. The interior minister of Bavaria, Günther Beckstein from the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) criticized the court's decision.

"Considering the gravity of this wrongdoing, I can't imagine that the victims and those affected will consider it just when a criminal like this walks around in freedom," Beckstein said.

A major sticking point across all parties has been Mohnhaupt's lack of remorse. Bavaria's premier Edmund Stoiber (CSU) said she should not be allowed back into society until she publicly apologizes for her crimes.

"It is mandatory that the terrorists should apologize to the bereaved and the victims of those brutally murdered," Stoiber said. This and a clear rejection of violence were conditions for returning to society, he said.

The German police union GdP also criticized Mohnhaupt's release.

"A feeling of bitterness lingers," said GdP head Konrad Freiberg. RAF terrorists murdered 10 policemen during their actions.

Closing a dark chapter of German history

Many left-wing politicians welcomed Mohnhaupt's release as a chance to turn the page on a dark chapter of post-war German history.

Hans-Christian Ströbele, a leading member of the Green party who as a lawyer once defended RAF members, said Mohnhaupt's release was a normal legal procedure. Since the federal prosecutor no longer considered her a threat to society, there was "no alternative" to her release on parole, Ströbele said.

The Social Democratic Party's (SPD) interior policy expert Dieter Wiefelspütz said the court had based its decision on justice and law. He said RAF perpetrators were people who had committed serious crimes. Mohnhaupt was therefore being treated like any other criminal.

"This is a decision, which we all have to respect," Wiefelspütz said.

Ronald Pofalla, general secretary of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said there were no objections to the decision.

"The legal situation is clear: the minimum term of imprisonment has expired," Pofalla said.

The German government declined to comment on the decision.

German press considers parole just

Many German papers pointed out on Tuesday that the court's decision was indicative of judicial fairness. The Financial Times Deutschland wrote that the decision was correct because it was based on the principles of the constitutional state.

"It can grant a murderer sentenced to life in prison a second chance if certain conditions are fulfilled," the Hamburg-based paper wrote. "This is independent of whether it involves a money-hungry robber or a terrorist guided by ideological motives."

For the Süddeutsche Zeitung in Munich, the release showed that Germany's legal system was "generous and merciful."

"The history of releases on parole lets us hope that the state continues to treat terrorists as criminal offenders and not as 'enemies' outside of the legal system," the Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote.

But the mass-circulation daily Bild argued that while Mohnhaupt's release may be perfectly legal, it was not just.

"Should the nine fold murderer Brigitte Mohnhaupt be allowed to live like us? Go shopping? Take walks? Or: give interviews? Write books about her time as a top RAF terrorist?," Bild commented. "The state court in Stuttgart says yes! In the name of the people! But we, the people, find it difficult to forgive a woman who has so many people on her conscience."

Mohnhaupt will begin her parole on March 27. Many papers fear she will begin a tour through Germany's television talk shows and profit from her past.

Another prominent RAF member, Christian Klar, is awaiting the outcome of a plea to German President Horst Köhler to be pardoned.