Rolf Clemens Wagner Explained

Rolf Clemens Wagner
Birth Date:1944 8, df=yes
Birth Place:Hohenelbe, Reichsgau Sudetenland, Germany
Death Place:Bochum, Germany
Organization:Red Army Faction

Rolf Clemens Wagner (30 August 1944 – 11 February 2014) was a member of the left wing terrorist organisation Red Army Faction (RAF).[1]

Terrorism

Wagner carried out most of his terrorists actions in the 1970s, and became an active member of the second generation RAF. Some of the major points of his terrorist career are listed below;

On 19 November 1979, Wagner was arrested in Zurich.

Imprisonment and release

Wagner was extradited to West Germany, and in 1985 he was sentenced to two life terms in prison for murder. His sentence was extended however when another RAF member, Werner Lotze, made a statement implicating Wagner in the Haig attack, and he was sentenced to another 12 years imprisonment.[8]

In 2003 president Johannes Rau pardoned Wagner, who was then 59 and suffering from ill-health.

Wagner caused controversy again in October 2007 when he made a statement about his previous crimes;[9]

In retrospect, many of our decisions seem correct even today. Take, for example, the decision to kidnap Hanns-Martin Schleyer. He, with his SS history, acting as the business leader in the occupied zones and in his new role as strong-arm and President of the Employers Association; we didn’t choose him by chance.

Many members of German society were outraged at Wagner’s remarks,[10] such as Rupert Scholz, the former Federal Minister of Defense who called for Wagner to be charged with “speech encouraging criminality.” [11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gedanken zu rolf clemens wagner. 23 February 2014. political-prisoners.net. German. 25 March 2014.
  2. [Stefan Aust|Aust, Stefan]
  3. News: Getler . Michael . Belgrade Frees 4 Terrorist Suspects Wanted by Bonn . 23 December 2023 . Washington Post . 18 November 1978.
  4. Web site: Archived copy . www.inventati.org . 17 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716120247/http://www.inventati.org/anarhizam/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2415 . 16 July 2011 . dead.
  5. Herf, Jeffrey (2007) An Age of Murder Ideology and Terror in Germany, 1969–1991. Department of History, University of Maryland
  6. Web site: Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF) Documents . Labourhistory.net . 26 March 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131205050232/http://labourhistory.net/raf/chronology.php . 5 December 2013 . dmy-all .
  7. News: Schiesserei im Zürcher Shopville NZZ . 1 May 2019 . Neue Zürcher Zeitung . 13 December 2008 . de-CH.
  8. Web site: Rolf Clemens Wagner, Thoughts On The End Of The Red Army Fraction . Hartford-hwp.com . 26 March 2014.
  9. Web site: Sketchy Thoughts: red army faction . Sketchythoughts.blogspot.com . 26 March 2014.
  10. Web site: show/127594.html . Earth Times . 26 March 2014.
  11. Web site: Ex-RAF-Terrorist: Wagner ruft Staatsanwalt auf den Plan – Der Terror der RAF . German. Focus.de . 18 October 2007 . 26 March 2014.