Name Johannes Weinrich | ||
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Education Goethe University of Frankfurt Books An Economic Analysis, Predicting Recidivism Using Sur, Econometrics | ||
GERMANY: FUGITIVE ARRIVES IN BERLIN AFTER EXTRADITION FROM YEMEN
Johannes Weinrich (born 21 July 1947) is a German left-wing political militant and a founder of the Revolutionary Cells (RZ). He later became a close aide to Carlos the Jackal. He is currently serving a life sentence for murder.
Contents
- GERMANY FUGITIVE ARRIVES IN BERLIN AFTER EXTRADITION FROM YEMEN
- Early life
- Career
- In popular culture
- References
Early life
Weinrich attended the University of Frankfurt, where he was a radical student leader and owned a bookstore.
Career
Weinrich is thought to have managed operations for "Carlos" — Ilich Ramírez Sánchez — in Europe during the 1970s and '80s. In 1975 Weinrich and Carlos unsuccessfully attempted to hit an Israeli airplane at Orly Airport with an RPG-7. He was imprisoned for providing the cars used in the attack, but was released on probation for health reasons eight months into his sentence and became a fugitive. In the late 1970s he introduced Carlos to Magdalena Kopp, at the time Weinrich's girlfriend, whom Carlos would marry in 1979.
Extradition and conviction
On June 1, 1995, Weinrich was arrested in Yemen and extradited to Germany. At the time he was carrying a Somali passport identifying him as John Saleh. He faced trial for the 1975 rocket-propelled grenade attacks on El Al flights, 1981 bombing of Radio Free Europe in Munich, 1983 attack on the Saudi Ambassador to Greece, and the bombing of the French cultural center the same year. He was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In popular culture
Weinrich is portrayed by Alexander Scheer in the 2010 French-German television mini-series Carlos.
