Two far-left terrorists, Peter Kraut and Thomas Walter, were arrested by federal police at Berlin airport when an Iberia flight from Madrid landed in the German capital. They surrendered to authorities, ending their 30-year-long fugitive status.
The wanted terrorists were detained right on the runway and taken to a secured area of the airport, where they were handed over to the Berlin police. They notified the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of their return through their lawyers.
The arrest was confirmed by the Higher Court of the Berlin federal state (Kammergericht). Kraut and Walter were informed of the arrest warrant’s contents and were taken into custody until the trial begins.
Both had been in hiding for three decades. After a failed attempt to blow up a prison in Berlin’s Grünau district in April 1995, they, along with a third accomplice (who later died), fled abroad and spent recent years in Venezuela.
However, even in South America, they could not find peace. In late January 2025, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office charged them with organizing terrorist attacks aimed at bringing about “social changes” in Germany through their group “Das K.O.M.I.T.E.E.”
The trial will begin on March 17 in Berlin under heightened security. Four hearings are scheduled: March 17 and 18, and April 7 and 8.
