Johannes Weinrich
Born (1947-07-21) 21 July 1947 (age 76)
Alma materUniversity of Frankfurt
OrganizationRevolutionary Cells (RZ)

Johannes Weinrich (born 21 July 1947[1]) is a German left-wing terrorist and a founder of the Revolutionary Cells (RZ). He later became a close aide to Carlos the Jackal.[1][2] He is currently serving a life sentence for murder.[3]

Biography

Early life

Weinrich attended the University of Frankfurt, where he was a radical student leader and owned a bookstore.[4] He was friends with fellow radical Wilfried Böse.

Career

Weinrich is thought to have managed operations for "Carlos" — Ilich Ramírez Sánchez — in Europe during the 1970s and '80s.[2] In 1975 Weinrich and Carlos attempted to hit an Israeli airplane at Orly Airport with two RPG-7 rocket launchers. The rockets missed and hit an empty plane and a building instead.[5] 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.[6] In the late 1970s he introduced Carlos to Magdalena Kopp, at the time Weinrich's girlfriend, whom Carlos would marry in 1979.[7]

Extradition and conviction

On 1 June 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 centre in West Berlin the same year. He was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life imprisonment.[8]

In popular culture

Weinrich is portrayed by Alexander Scheer in the 2010 French-German television mini-series Carlos.

References

  1. ^ a b "Terrors Advocate"
  2. ^ a b Karacs, Imre (18 January 2000). "The Jackal's accomplice is jailed for life". The Independent. London. Retrieved 11 March 2010.[dead link]
  3. ^ "Germany acquits 'Jackal's aide'". BBC News. 23 August 2004. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  4. ^ "Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups", Stephen E. Atkins. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 0-313-32485-9, ISBN 978-0-313-32485-7. p. 277
  5. ^ Ensalaco, Mark (2008). Middle Eastern terrorism: from Black September to September 11. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-8122-4046-7.
  6. ^ "Carlos the Jackal: Trail of Terror, Parts 1 and 2", Patrick Bellamy. TruTV. Accessed 4 March 2011
  7. ^ "Carlos the Jackal: Trail of Terror, Parts 1 and 2", Patrick Bellamy. TruTV. Accessed 4 March 2011
  8. ^ "Terrorism, 1992-1995: a chronology of events and a selectively annotated bibliography", Mickolus, Edward F, Susan L. Simmons. ABC-CLIO, 1997. ISBN 0-313-30468-8, ISBN 978-0-313-30468-2. p. 8-9
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