| Johannes Weinrich | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947 |
| Alma mater | University of Frankfurt |
| Organization | Revolutionary Cells (RZ) |
Johannes Weinrich (born 21 July 1947[1]) is a German left-wing political militant. Weinrich was a founder of the Revolutionary Cells (RZ) and later became a close aide to Carlos the Jackal.[1][2] He is currently serving a life sentence for murder.[3]
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Weinrich attended the University of Frankfurt, where he was a radical student leader and owned a bookstore.[4]
Weinrich is thought to have managed Carlos' operations in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s.[2] In 1975 Weinrich and Carlos unsuccessfully attempted to hit an Israeli airplane at Orly Airport with an RPG-7.[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, who Carlos would marry in 1979.[7]
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 in imprisonment.[8]
Weinrich is portrayed by Alexander Scheer in the 2010 French-German television mini-series Carlos.