Arndt Müller

Arndt Müller (born September 3, 1942 in Leipzig ) is a German former lawyer . From 1975 to 1977 he was a defender in the Stammheim trial against the leaders of the first generation of the Red Army Faction (RAF). For smuggling weapons and other objects into the high-security wing of the Stuttgart prison , Müller was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison in 1980 for supporting a terrorist organization and a further five years of professional ban .

Defender in the Stammheim trial

In such a hiding place in the files, the lawyers Arndt Müller and Armin Newerla smuggled three firearms into the high-security wing of the Stuttgart prison

In the 1970s, the conflict between the old Federal Republic and the RAF reached its climax. One of the central events was the Stammheim trial from 1975 to 1977, in which the leaders of the first generation and founders of the RAF were charged with, among other things, four murders. Müller appeared here as one of Gudrun Ensslin's defenders , but never spoke at the main hearing.

Müller was one of a few lawyers who also actively supported their clients through illegal acts. So they organized a so-called information system. This meant that they smuggled notices, so-called receipts , into and out of the prisons, distributed them among the prisoners and also passed them on to wanted suspects, the active members of the second RAF generation. This not only ensured preparation for the numerous trials, but also resulted in the second generation of the RAF being led by the imprisoned members of the first generation from the prisons. The center of this illegal system was Klaus Croissant's office in Stuttgart , where Müller was a partner from 1975 .

Before the trial, the most important members of the first RAF generation were brought together in the high-security wing of the Stuttgart prison and were brought to justice in a specially built courthouse right next to the prison. It was later discovered that Müller was using specially made, glued hand files to smuggle numerous objects. During the Stammheim trial, the defendants had the right to take various files pertaining to their defense with them to their cells. The files were handed to them in the courtroom and only superficially examined by leafing through them. Since most of the prisoners were supposed to be removed quickly, the smuggling was never discovered. In this way, Müller transported three firearms, 650 grams of explosives, fuses, a portable radio, a hotplate and other items into the high-security wing during the 192 days of the trial. Another partner from the Croissant law firm, Armin Newerla (1946–2015), was also involved in the smuggling .

From October 1975 to June 1977 Müller visited the prisoners 584 times, 232 of them Gudrun Ensslin. He was considered a "travel lawyer" who served the prisoners' communication with one another, as he also frequently visited prisoners in various other prisons.

After several attempts by the second RAF generation to free themselves, the hijacking of Schleyer and the “Landshut” plane in the so-called German autumn of 1977 marked the climax of left-wing terrorism in Germany. After the passengers of the aircraft were freed by the GSG 9 on October 18, 1977, it became clear that the RAF would not achieve the release of the imprisoned terrorists. When the prisoners found out that the aircraft hostages had been freed, Andreas Baader , Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe committed suicide in their cells on the so-called night of death in Stammheim . Baader and Raspe shot each other with pistols smuggled in by Müller.

After the suicides, key witness Volker Speitel , who also incriminated Müller, provided information about the prisoners' information system and about underground storage facilities in which RAF members had hoarded explosives and weapons . Müller was arrested in September 1977, as was Newerla and Croissant, who had fled to France and was extradited from there. On January 31, 1980, Müller was sentenced by the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court to four years and eight months in prison and a five-year professional ban. Newerla received three and a half years in prison.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sven Felix Kellerhoff : Lawyers who carried explosives to terrorists. In: The world . August 13, 2012 (online) ; Markus Krischer: Explosives in the underpants. In: Focus . October 1, 2007 (online) ; Butz Peters : RAF terrorism in Germany. Knaur, ISBN 3-426-80019-5 , pp. 268-270.
2. ↑ Stammheim. Old box . In: Der Spiegel . No. 3 , 1978, p. 75-77 ( online ).
3. ^ Butz Peters: RAF terrorism in Germany. Knaur, ISBN 3-426-80019-5 , pp. 268-270; Butz Peters: Deadly mistake. Argon, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-87024-673-1 , p. 222 ff.
4. ↑ Stefan Aust : The Baader Meinhof Complex. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1985, ISBN 3-426-03874-9 , p. 412 ff .; The prosecutor and his informant. In: stern.de , April 27, 2007.
5. ↑ Petra Terhoeven : German Autumn in Europe. Oldenbourg, Munich 2014, p. 18.