February 5, 2001
Prosecutor Wants Terrorist Jailed
By MELISSA EDDY
Associated Press Writer
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) n -
Prosecutors on Thursday demanded 14
years in prison for a former German terrorist facing murder charges
for his role in a 1975 attack on an OPEC conference that left three
people dead.
Hans-Joachim Klein, 52, also faces charges of attempted murder
and taking hostages in the attack in Vienna, Austria. An employee
of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, an Iraqi
bodyguard and an Austrian policeman died.
Prosecutor Volker Rath told the court that the victims were
killed ``for money, and so that the terrorists could leave the
country and publish their explanations'' for what they had done.
Klien said in testimony the terrorists had wanted to force OPEC
states to show more support for the Palestinians. They failed to
obtain any ransom for the hostages.
But Rath said he was asking for a light sentence for Klein
because he had given the court new details about the Revolutionary
Cells terrorist group that planned and executed the attack. Murder
carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The prosecutors also made allowances for Klien because he now
regretted the attack and had changed his ways.
Prosecutor Joerg Claude asked for five years imprisonment for
Rudolf Schindler, 57, a co-defendant in the trial who Klein claims
recruited him into the Revolutionary Cells. Schindler has refused
to testify.
Klein had admitted to the court he took part in the attack, but
denied shooting any of those slain. He testified that Libya _ an
OPEC member _ provided the weapons and information on security
measures in the building where the conference was taking place.
The trial is to end Thursday after remarks by defense lawyers.
The verdict is expected on Feb 13.
The terrorists took 70 hostages in the Dec. 21 attack and, after
negotiating their escape with Austrian authorities, flew to Algeria
with 35 of them.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and French Greens
politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who knew Klein from their days as
young leftist radicals in the 1970's, both testified at the trial.
Fischer's appearance caused a partisan political furor over his
past role in violent political protests.
Klein was captured Sept. 8, 1998 in France. He was extradited to
Germany for trial because he is a German citizen.
Carlos the Jackal, a Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez
Sanchez, was arrested in Sudan in 1994 and is serving a life
sentence in France for three other murders.
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