Rolf Clemens Wagner (30 August 1944 – 11 February 2014) was a German terrorist. He was member of the left wing

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

organisation

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 ...

(RAF).

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; *Suspected active role in the

kidnap Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

Hanns-Martin Schleyer Hans "Hanns" Martin Schleyer (; 1 May 1915 – 18 October 1977) was a German business executive, employer and industry representative, Nazi SS officer, and lobbyist. He served as president of two powerful commercial organizations: the Confeder ...

, September 1977. *In May 1978, Wagner was arrested in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(alongside

Brigitte Mohnhaupt Brigitte Margret Ida Mohnhaupt (born 24 June 1949) is a German convicted former terrorist associated with the second generation of the Red Army Faction (RAF) members. She was also part of the Socialist Patients' Collective (SPK). From 1971 until ...

, Peter-Jurgen Boock and

Sieglinde Hofmann Sieglinde Hofmann (born 14 March 1945) was a German militant and member of both the Socialist Patients' CollectiveWolfgang Kraushaar"Die RAF und der linke Terrorismus" Hamburger Edition, 2006, Volume 1, p. 473 and the Red Army Faction. Biography ...

), and faced extradition 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 ...

. He was released however, and allowed to travel to a country of his choice because West Germany turned down an offer from Yugoslavia to extradite them in exchange for eight Croatian political fugitives in West Germany. It is thought that Wagner travelled to

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. *In June 1979 Wagner took part in the failed assassination attempt on

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Alexander Haig Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (; 2 December 192420 February 2010) was United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House chief of staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to and in between these cabine ...

. *In November later that year, he was involved in a bank raid in a branch of Schweizerische Volksbank, where a policeman was shot and seriously injured, and an innocent bystander (housewife Edith Kletzhandler) died when she was hit in the throat by a

ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

ing bullet. On 19 November 1979, Wagner was arrested in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

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 Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

. In 2003

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia fro ...

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:

In retrospect, many of our decisions seem correct even today. Take, for example, the decision to kidnap
Hanns-Martin Schleyer Hans "Hanns" Martin Schleyer (; 1 May 1915 – 18 October 1977) was a German business executive, employer and industry representative, Nazi SS officer, and lobbyist. He served as president of two powerful commercial organizations: the Confeder ...
. 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, such as Rupert Scholz, the former Federal

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

who called for Wagner to be charged with “speech encouraging criminality.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Rolf Clemens 1944 births 2014 deaths People from Vrchlabí Sudeten German people Members of the Red Army Faction People convicted of murder by Germany People convicted on terrorism charges German people convicted of murdering police officers German people convicted of murder German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Germany People extradited from Switzerland People extradited to Germany