German President Horst Köhler has refused clemency for convicted RAF terrorist Christian Klar.
Posted on 05/07/2007 5:36:55 AM PDT by wolf78
Germany's President Horst Köhler has refused clemency to the convicted RAF terrorist Christian Klar.
German President Horst Köhler has refused to grant early release to convicted Red Army Faction terrorist Christian Klar.
Köhler's office announced Monday that the president had turned down Klar's plea for clemency, as well as a similar plea from fellow RAF member Birgit Hogefeld. Both Klar and Hogefeld are serving life sentences for murder.
The 54-year-old Klar has been in prison for 24 years and is two years away from being eligible for parole. He is serving a life sentence for his role in the murder of German federal prosecutor Siegfried Bubackand other RAF killings. Klar, who had already had one clemency plea turned down by Köhler's predecessor Johannes Rau, was criticized in February when he sent a provocative anti-capitalist statement to a conference of far-left groups. Critics claimed the statement showed Klar had not changed his radical views.
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
Wow. That dude’s got Charlie Manson eyes...
These bastards should NEVER get out of prison. Klar is a vicious, murderous thug-freak who would immediately revert to his former activities. The German government has the duty and obligation to protect the public from these creeps.
When I saw RAF ,I thought the guy was a British flyer. Glad I read the rest of it.
Klar was not just a murderer but the very definition of a terrorist motivated by politics.
They let Irmgard Möller go in ‘94, for “health reasons”. She’s the one who killed three people in a Heidelberg bombing.
Germany’s coming to its senses.
He DOES have Charlie Manson eyes. Should be moved to Texas, where they flick ‘em fast into the next world. Good for Herr Kohler.
Well done Horst Köhler !!
Well Christian Klar and the recently released Brigitte Mohnhaupt are definitly no danger to the public anymore. Nevertheless they never regretted their crimes. Therefore it is correct to keep them in prison.
Koehler tried to review this case accurately and I am sure that Klar could have gone free if he would have apologized and accepted that he was wrong. The president even met Klar in the prison to talk with him.
“Well Christian Klar and the recently released Brigitte Mohnhaupt are definitly no danger to the public anymore.” Oh, really? On what do you base that statement? Do you have any ironclad guarantee he will not try to murder more Germans? This is a textbook case of why the death penalty is such an effective law enforcement tool. It guarantees that the individual executed will kill no more.
The RAF declared its annulment in 1998 and the failure of the "town guerilla"-concept. The terrorist infrastructure does not exist anymore. Both Klar and Mohnhaupt declared that they will never use force anymore although they still believe into their ideology.
Germany has a completely different way of penalization than the US i.e.. You could say shortened: We punish to protect the public from the criminals and to correct them but not to retaliate. The needs of Victims or their families do not play a big role in our convictions. Since our highest court declared it unhuman to keep people in jail for their complete livespan, if they do not pose a danger to the public anymore most murderers go free after 15 years. Therefore the 24 years in jail for Klar are already extraordinary. He will be free anyway in January 2009 if I am correctly informed.
Personally I am strictly against a release, although I think it is in the duty of our President, Mr. Köhler, to check out the cases after that long time. Even Klar has the right on equal treatment.
It guarantees that the individual executed will kill no more.
I know. Maybe you are aware that death penalty is strictly forbidden by our "constitution", the so called Grundgesetz, in Germany just like in the rest of Europe. In Europe it is forbidden because of European laws and national laws. Only Belarus is still executing criminals. Due to our very own bloddy German history with the exessive abuse of capital punishment for base motives we have some reason for that policy. Except of Poland there are no serious political ambitions to a reintroduction, since the death penalty is also dismissed by a vast majority of the European people in the meantime, as we can see from the polls that are made from time to time.
I understand that the US still is executing people just like we still can drive as fast as our cars go on the expressways. Different countries, different attitudes. We should accept that.
“Both Klar and Mohnhaupt declared that they will never use force anymore although they still believe into their ideology.” I’m sorry. I am very uncomfortable debating with foreigners, but that statement confounds reason. OF COURSE they would say that. They would say anything to get out of prison. By putting the interests of criminals ahead of the interests of innocent people and crime victims, you are encouraging more crime. As an example of how this works out, I would cite the case of Jack Unterweger (I know, he’s an Austrian) who was released from prison for one cold-blooded murder, having served less than 20 years, and went on a serial killing spree that spread over three countries. His victims were certainly not served by the European approach to murderers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.