Klaus Croissant (24 May 1931 – 28 March 2002) was a lawyer of the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

, later an East German spy and a political activist for Berlin's Alternative Liste für Demokratie und Umweltschutz and, after 1990, the PDS. Croissant was shown by

Kurt Rebmann Kurt Rebmann (30 May 1924 – 21 April 2005) was a German lawyer and from 1977 to 1990 'Generalbundesanwalt' ( Public Prosecutor General), the highest federal prosecutor of Germany. Life and achievements Rebmann was born in 1924 in the southweste ...

, then Attorney General of Germany, "to have organized his cabinet the operational reserve of West German terrorism". A campaign against his imprisonment was organized in which, in particular,

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

and

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

took part. He was released on

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

and absconded to France on 10 July 1977. He was apprehended in Paris on 30 September. He applied for political asylum but his plea was rejected by the court of criminal appeal of the Court of Appeal of Paris and an extradition order made on 16 November 1977 despite some protests in Germany, France and Italy. He was extradited to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

the following day. In a platform published in ''Le Monde'' on 2 November 1977,

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

and

Félix Guattari Pierre-Félix Guattari ( ; ; 30 March 1930 – 29 August 1992) was a French psychoanalyst, political philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, social activist, and screenwriter. He co-founded schizoanalysis with Gilles Deleuze, and created ecosophy ...

wrote: He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment for supporting a designated terrorist organization. After his release, Croissant started to work for the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

, which registered him, in 1981, as ''Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter'' "IM Taler", Reg. Nr. XV/5231/81. His girlfriend, the taz-publisher and green member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

Brigitte Heinrich, was led by Croissant to join his work for the Stasi till her death in 1987. In 1992, his collaboration with the Stasi was made public.Klaus Marxen, Gerhard Werle (Hrsg.
''Strafjustiz und DDR-Unrecht: Dokumentation. Spionage, Band 4''
Walter de Gruyter, 2004, , S. 19

References

Sources

* "Erinnerung an einen Freund oder Die Amsterdamer Gewissenserforschung" (Remembering a friend or researching conscience in Amsterdam)by Gaspard Dünkelsbühler in ''Fern und nah, Gesichter, Stimmen 1950 – 70'', 2003 * Peter O. Chotjewitz: ''Mein Freund Klaus'' (''My friend Klaus''), Berlin 2007, Verbrecher Verlag, {{DEFAULTSORT:Croissant, Klaus 1931 births 2002 deaths East German spies People from Kirchheim unter Teck Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany) politicians 20th-century German lawyers People extradited from France People extradited to Germany Stasi officers Jurists from Baden-Württemberg