Bruce Allen Scharlau PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

249
Both the Lorenz and Schleyer episodes were seen by the government as
situations demanding police responses instead of balanced short and
lang-term police and political responses. The short-term police response
needed to be tempered by the long-term political reponse.
At the time of the Schleyer abduction, Chancellor Schmidt and the
rest of the crisis commi ttee- -wi th two exceptions-
-all denied any
ideological or political motives in the Red Army Faction activities, and
held such thoughts to be held only by sympathisers. Only Horst Herold,
the BKA president, and the Interior Minister, Werner Maihofer, believed
the terrorists sought to bomb their way into society's political
attention. Herold even respected the highly intelligent and moral
terrorists, and saw the proper response as being the removal of the
ground from which such ideas sprang. 99
Arguably r
because it broke a precedent, a case could be made that
Federal Prosecutor General Rebmann overstepped himself by asking r
and
receiving permission fran, the Federal Constitutional Court to erect
mobile control points wherever and whenever necessary during the IMP
meeting in Berlin in September 1988. As a result all persons travelling
into the city between 18 and 45 r who did not at first appear
unsuspicious, were checked under 111 stPO. Normally this code can only
be used after terrorist incidents. loo
Earlier this chapter explained that the authorities reduced
accuseds' rights and increased police manoueverability against
terrorism. The two of these work together in terrorism with criminal
codes providing justification for court procedure codes and vice versa.
The government I s dilemma in framing legislation in these areas f as
mentioned earlier, is balancing apprehension and speedy trials without
framing special categories of legislation, which they arguably have with
Para 129a StGB, as mentioned earlier. This means strengthening
legislation where necessary and discarding or rewriting useless
legislation. This was not always done as is shown below.
Between January 1971 and Novemeber 1980 279 (left and right wing)
persons suspected of committing and supporting those who committed
terrorist crimes were arrested. Only in 24% of the cases were the full
limits of court sentences required. (34.4% in juvenile cases.) Fines
reached their limit 12% of the time. Crimes with sentences up to two
99 "'Die Deutschen sing irrsinnig geworden" l Der Spiegel 36/1987,
107-8; (I'Raben wir Fehler gemacht? III Der Spiegel 37/1987, 55-6.
100 Blume, Maithes, Stern 41/1988, 262.