Helga Roos is an anti-imperialist political prisoner in West Germany, sentenced to five years in prison in the Spring of 1983. Helga's case has a particular significance because it is a test case for the West German government, and part of a pattern of repressive legal rulings being implemented in all the NATO countries. With the case of Helga Roos, the West German government is attempting to set the legal precedent of holding public supporters of armed struggle responsible for the actions of the underground. The state is trying to establish the political concept of the "legal wing" of the underground — specifically that anyone who supports the Red Army Faction in Germany can be considered part of the RAF and treated aS such. This repressive strategy is an effort to counter the growing strength and sophistication of the West German armed movement and the public anti-imperialist movement. Helga was arrested in October 1981, following the RAF attack on NATO General Kroesen. She was accused of buying a box of chocolate (!) and the tent used by the RAF in the action (see p. 18 for RAF communique). Helga was then sent to Stammheim Prison where she was held under harsh repressive conditions. Four RAF prisoners were assassinated at Stammheim in 1977. Others have been near death as a result of torture and conditions designed to destroy their minds as well as their bodies. Helga is being treated like most of the political prisoners there. She has been in total isolation since her arrest. She is allowed only one half-hour visit from her sister per month and has no contact with anyone else except the guard who brings her meals. All of her mail is censored and her reading material is limited to two newspapers per week. Last Fall the Federal Bureau of Prosecution attempted to have Helga declared insane and committed tc a mental institution without a trial. The government tried this in 1973 against Ulrike Meinhof and against Siegfried Haag in 1979. Their aim is to portray resistance and struggle against the system as crazy and sick. Psychosurgery was planned for Ulrike Meinhof. Prosecutor Zeis stated in the proceedings against her: "It would be so embarassing if it turned out that all the people began to follow a mad woman." An international campaign of protest forced the German government to abandon its outrageous plan to commit Helga to a mental institution, as had similar campaigns in support of Ulrike and Siegfried in earlier years. Helga has been a political activist for many years. She has struggled for anti-imperialism within the women's movement. She has a long history of building public
POLITICAL INTERNMENT IN THE ERG Helga Roos Sentenced to Five Years
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