At got time present one nine hundred seventy five the leaders of the Red Army Faction terrorist group were on trial. And put says my generation was on trial today in that video good to where they revolutionaries kilis the trial divided the country. Leshem be shot over the new kelseys. There were only two colors black and white stripes and vice there were confrontations in the courtroom as well. And he let me finish often enough for the its not a make you have to be out a have not the me beauty. For it wasnt easy for the judges just in case germany was in turmoil how could justice be served in the shadow of terrorism. As funny it was oppressive i was completely worn out. The defendants were sentenced to life in prison and day when the only ones. Victory prison in one thousand nine hundred eighty four a few weeks before the start of the trial r. A. F. Member heard the mines had been on a Hunger Strike for two months he wanted to be moved to the same prison as the other members of the group he called his lawyers. It was still me into he was already so weak and he may see a ted that i have to put my ear close to his mouth to understand him with. He said please make sure that they move me to shun time as soon as possible with each. Country it was right before the weekend by the high tide of forty people and. Minds as lawyers notify judge to yield or printing who was presiding over the aria of trial prince in cold the prison in victory. Kind of a the side of and thats no one told me that he was on his deathbed he was still Walking Around no doctor was attending him and he wasnt considered at risk that hes our Health Minister i spent all day here. That same night november the ninth the lawyers and relatives of the aria of prisoners held a solidarity event. They wanted the inmates strict prison conditions to be relaxed. The judges dont gabriela printing also attended illicit i sympathized with the Red Army Faction at the time they had the courage to go beyond philosophy and debate. They took action. To ikea young. The gathering was interrupted by some bad news i thought i might as died. Yes. The situation became tense right away and we saw a few days he could feel here and everyone stood up. On the other cars and i was shaking because i knew that when they said murderer they meant my father and we decided right away to go to the judges home and protest again so on and on porters. Printings address was listed in stuart gods Telephone Directory his daughter called to warn him. That wouldnt if they stood down there and called out murderer there were two hundred or three hundred people at the house we had two Police Officers armed with submachine guns ready to fire after the demonstrators left but that was only the beginning. There toward for the death of hologram minds also stepped up the pressure on the court system. And on the judge consider for the time an amp and the aria have set its sights on the judge. There can. Never forget those events on the one hand i feared for my fathers life and i didnt want anything to happen to him. But i could also understand the outrage over the death of hunger mine. And. She was on the far left politically like most students at the time. This generation had been shaped by the German Student Movement of nine hundred sixty eight and they wanted change students demonstrated against the state the author of his and germanys nazi past. We wanted to change things we didnt want to see fascism or nazi isnt ever again that was the main island and. The street battles of nine hundred sixty eight had a profound impact on an entire generation of young people some saw violence as the only real way to achieve change. That included holger months the student at the time mines joined an underground group called the Red Army Faction. Its founders andreas bought and goodwin enslin planned to use terrorist attacks to create the foundation for an anti imperialist revolution journalist whigham mindful of also joined the group. A nine hundred seventy two they already have carried out a series of deadly bombings including some aimed at u. S. Troops in west germany it was a protest against the war in vietnam but by our mind it was widely known that the u. S. Forces stationed here played an Important Role in the criminal war in vietnam worth. In vietnam four people were killed and fifty others were wounded in the attacks many who had sympathized with bob and my hopes were horrified by the increase in violence but the antiwar protests brought together they are a half and leftist groups in west germany. Vite in some people including intellectuals artists Students University students and staff felt a Certain Affinity with the r. A. F. Have. Been. In june one thousand nine hundred seventy two police camp had three key r. A. F. Members at a warehouse in frankfurt called the mines young and under way as bada. Hoodoo enslin and when we combined who were arrested soon afterwards. Thats the talks and there was a major contradiction with the r. A. F. And that trial and all that. You know they had the most impact and post the greatest threat one still leaders have been put behind bars. And. The r. A. F. Defendants were sent to sham home prison and stock got a special Court Facility was built on the prison grounds at a cost of twelve million monks it was a unique development in west german history the judge hearing the case was an experienced legal scholar and the form of a mark left handed. For the nz in this case will follow strict legal procedures we will ensure that the rights of the accused are guaranteed to get it out of. The court will not allow those rights to be abused by either side. At first we lawyers had a normal and informal relationship with the judge comes to threaten us who they wish to shout that you hope and thats is i had hoped that given my courtroom experience i would at least be able to impose a sense of order on the proceedings. And your shuffling kind of hands on snow. In late one thousand nine hundred seventy four the aria of prisoners were transferred to. The trial against enslin vosper Baader Meinhof and mines was to start there in a few weeks the charges against them included four counts of murder the group had already claimed responsibility for the killings the defendants faced life in prison and they decided to use Hunger Strikes to protest the strict prison conditions that the author of his and imposed on them yes. It was the First Time Since one thousand nine hundred five that prisoners had used their own bodies as a weapon it was a huge step because it could end in their deaths as it did with hunger months. Minds his death was a disaster for the Justice System the author orators were now in the dock and the Red Army Faction had its first martyr. The fight continues. There were accusations that mines lawyers were deliberately complicit in his death and that they were simply trying to stir things up before the trial started. For the aryans lawyers particularly close quote this was much more than just another trial. I had always had a Strong Social conscience. But over time of course his support for groups like the r. A. F. Got him into trouble i mean he talked. In december nine hundred seventy four quite some arranged for french philosopher john paul sounds good to visit and various bought in shanghai. The mines and there was some opposition among the other judges but it was my decision alone and i was comfortable with it i wanted people to see that we werent trying to isolate the defendants from the public. Side to a mistakenly believe that the spartan visitors room was actually barred us out there was a huge controversy and santa raised claims of psychological torture like. The neon light is on all the time they only switch it off at eleven pm for him and not at all for the other inmates. Afterwards already have sympathizers formed and groups to support the prisoners some even demanded the liberation. The second r. A. F. Generation was recruited mostly from these groups. Stucco april nine hundred seventy five six Second Generation r. T. F. Members known as the holga mines command took hostages in the German Embassy they demanded the release of the sham home prisoners to embassy employees were killed that night explosives at the hostage takers had brought with them blew up winning all of the attackers the heim prisoners found out about the incident despite strict security measures. When the news broke that the siege had ended a crowd gathered outside the prison. Let him out and hang on. I agree. Let him out and shoot him. An eye for an eye. Lynch law instead of a fair trial as long as they are enough leaders were in prison the terrorist attacks would continue. They didnt come things down a toll on the contrary it made the situation even worse discounting the guns that must fail by guitar the trial started on may the twenty first nine hundred seventy five. Of armstrong on this was a lot of foreign journalists were there reporters from a number of countries came to hime the mood was tense there were police on horseback in Armored Vehicles and in a helicopter. It was the biggest terrorist trial in west german history some of the spectators supported they are af. Bring new people to im here for the trial because of bada already army faction and the goals that theyre pursuing. To sing the national. A sixteen year old student from stuttgart was also there under his file was a member of a christian democrat youth group you know me as a city official told me that if the government had a file on me i shouldnt go and i wanted to get ahead in my career. Donahue. We all thought his camp to particularly close out on the sympathizers. Many school and University Students and teachers was suspected of supporting the r. F. There was a lot of suspicion on both sides many of the sympathizers believed the state could not guarantee a free trial. And there was another Hunger Strike. When the defendants appeared in court for the first time they seemed to be in poor health. Their weight is a concern. And i think it weighs around forty eight kilograms. And saying forty two. I love it and i know forty and a half and bought a waist fifty kilos of. This and the defendants had such a high public profile that bother could say if we go on a Hunger Strike the entire country pays attention when. He got. The judges daughter gabriella joined a solidarity committee. Move on and we did things like that all the time if it involved the r. A. F. I was in you know. Bunch of the defendants were ruled unfit to stand trial the trial could be suspended judged prince ing suspected that this was the reason behind the Hunger Strike since its been hoped that when other defendants whites accurate how did this happen from a medical perspective is it possible that the defendants are intentionally losing weight and. Convincing me telling you could be hit. By feeling. About a five on is easy reason making for going to happen. But laws were no on the books that allowed trials to take place without the defendants being present that was no coincidence. Just filthy other kind if this it was its been forty years now so i can speak openly. But. I think the court knew that the defendants would continue their Hunger Strike to the point where they no longer be fit to stand trial. This heart of sin had borne captain tut so there would have been no point to even start the trial. One kind seen how thats not meeting one for very logical was take that if i had known then not some judges were pushing for this change in the law here and i give Yvette Stevens half and i thought it would have been another reason for me to suspect bias by the law or didnt you bizarre mistake of how high given the new law was apparently initiated in part by the court itself also limited the rights of the defense lawyers the court accused Hans Christian of supporting the r. F. And took him off the defense team clause cause song and court good of all to also remove. That prompted a lot of criticism from other countries you know political trial the defense lawyers are often taken off the case now happens everywhere they are of lawyers were outraged. If you know the defense team has been gutted three of them found and lawyers have been removed just before the start of the trial already there is no defense team anymore. You know man. Good ensigns lawyer took a combative stance. For the its not a make you have to be outraged at me good. Night i never was its nature to me its not. The outreach. You know its been a very important as every morning when we walked into court we experienced a wave of aggression and hostility and even hatred yes a house. Barda these colleagues used the trial as a political platform. And were very confident they were articulate and eloquent and made it quite clear that they had no intention of participating in a regular trial. They wanted to politicize it from the very start of the board and put this point forward and put it in. The top four first thought he. Went on and on for farm to fund. It i. Think came to the island look if you know about it thats. Another spot. Yes well this union being standing up. They spoke out against the vietnam war you could say that they did so improperly but they have a right to speak and thats the nature of a trial like this hes an and so whats this is and i think the people of course you could understand why people and sing and the other judges were upset that defendants lashed out to them salted them but if one told judge cleansing to shut up. Privileged it definitely wasnt easy for the judges but i wasnt on their side i was on the other side we have to set. At press conferences the law is focused on the defendants political philosophy thats getting the court has rejected an investigation into the extent to which the west German Government was involved in the criminal us more of aggression against vietnam in vietnam for. This the goal was to use the trial to attack the Justice System states the insoles different im but i think its nonsense to claim that anyone was to be humiliated or made a victim the balance of power was quite different back then. And if god is god. And. Then man is he been the one who had come and hes a tease if you listen to the tapes youll see that it wasnt the defendants who were aggressive toward the judges. It was the lawyers. And their. The defense lawyers stalled the trial by constantly raising accusations that judge brinn singh was biased there were divisions between arre of supporters and opponents and not just in the courtroom. You know tightening our Student Newspaper covered the trial so the School Officials banned it then we sold it in front of the school we painted a red line on the ground and said this is where germanys democracy ends the afoul disport obvious you know there was so much polarization and hostility back then its extreme i take it he said president the trial outraged many average citizens. They need tougher jail conditions and worse food. They havent eaten in weeks and. Theyre too lazy that its too much for them to. Listen let me the third reich is gone. I hope itll come back. Because i mean until i have folders full of mail that includes slanderous remarks and Death Threats but instead say things like how can your fans murder as why not. I mean if the worst case was when someone sent me a bullet and a letter that said this is a death sentence made i believe its time tortoise or time theater director klaus primer was also accused of being an area of sympathizer crime and had supported a from raising efforts so that goodwin enslin could have some dental work done in committee would often fail i came back from holiday and saw myself on the cover of the village newspaper you know this man funs the underground much time under nates ten thousand marks i broke out in a cold sweat. The article generated a negative response to say the least. And fourteen in the sane someone should smash your teeth and you just have you no sense of decency you swine. And in blue scum bag youll be next like you should be gassed preferably with chlorine or fostering best maclow up with our first game. The authorities knew that as long as they already have leaders remained in jail there would likely be more terrorist attacks Police Stepped up the search for possible accomplices he put it so i had to buy food in some violent where i live now police shot and killed a man from scotland because they thought he was linked to the raf. I mean bottom line of it was terrible. For by. The public pressure brought the defendants and the lawyers closer together under arrest bonded demanded that the attorneys adopt the aria of scientology and recruit new supporters house correspondent. Is that its those are unfortunately germanys factious tradition continues as before when you get often is the codes and the defense lawyers battle to win Public Opinion in the one nine hundred seventy s. Germanys nazi past was still a major discussion topic and it came up at the trial. There were groups of agitators it was incredible the defendants and their lawyers contributed a lot to that during the trial talk to consideration by escaped there is a notion among leftist groups and the r. A. F. Which is part of the left that they are dealing with a fascist system here in west germany. Thats money smith and its run by former perpetrators later tonight in mali. Now before the socket a defense lawyer claimed that one of the judges had a nazi background and said this was a scandal. Is the symbolic quote going on and. Make america heil knocked up wincing he did a supporter. It was clear to us that the. Judicial systems was full of people who had participated in the nazi regime. And let you saw more and more of them as you went up the chain of command. But the claims were unfounded apprenticing was never a nazi judge in fact prin