AT LEAST THEY'RE CONSISTENT:

"These People Don't Deserve Mercy": A German court has decided to release Brigitte Mohnhaupt, who served 24 years for her part in the Baader-Meinhof Gang's murderous battle against the West German establishment in the 1970s. The decision has divided Germany. Has she been punished enough or should she have been left in jail until she showed remorse? (Der Spiegel, 2/12/07)

A German left-wing terrorist Brigitte Mohnhaupt, serving five life sentences for her involvement in a 1970s campaign of murder, kidnapping and bomb attacks that traumatised Germany, is to be released on parole in March after serving 24 years in jail, a court ruled on Monday.

A majority of Germans oppose the release of Mohnhaupt, 57, who was a leading figure in the Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, a communist grouping that emerged from the 1968 student protest movement and was bent on overthrowing the capitalist establishment, which it felt had been infiltrated by former Nazis.

The court ruling has angered the relatives of her victims and sparked a debate about whether a life sentence should mean life for someone who never apologised for her actions. Friends have said Mohnhaupt is too proud to show remorse and still doesn't recognise the inhumanity of the RAF's actions.

At the end of the fine Munich massacre documentary, One Day in September, the filmmakers present as fact--and German officials of the time confirm--that the government essentially helped stage a hijacking so that it could turn over the terrorists it had captured to the PLO and get them out of the country.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 12, 2007 11:40 AM