Klaus-Peter Sabotta was an

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

ist who

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

d German

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s in December 1998, only six months after the Eschede disaster. He claimed to represent former employees of the German railway operator Deutsche Bahn who had been made redundant, and demanded a ransom of DM10 million. His motive for the crime was a need to pay off heavy

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

s he had incurred in his business activities.German rail blackmailer sentenced to life in jail
/ref> The first act of tampering, near

Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf (), an inner-city locality of Berlin, lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. History The v ...

was detected and repaired before any train passed, while a second attack on the InterCityExpress line at the small town of

Uchtspringe Uchtspringe is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, Uchtspringe is part of the town Stendal.Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

, failed to derail its intended target. The third act of sabotage, near

Anklam Anklam [], formerly known as Tanglim and Wendenburg, is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the banks of the Peene river, just 8 km from its mouth in the ''Kleines Haff'', the western ...

resulted in the derailment of a northbound

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

train. Had a passenger train due at the time not been half an hour late, it would have smashed into the wreckage of the freight train. He was arrested as he attempted to collect the ransom at a

filling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Ga ...

just off the A8 in Irschenberg,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

.24 December 1998, ,

Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...

On 4 February 2000 he was convicted of attempted murder and attempted extortion, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabotta, Klaus-Peter German extortionists German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Germany Railway accidents and incidents in Germany Railway accidents in 1998 Living people Saboteurs Train wrecks caused by sabotage Year of birth missing (living people)

See also

References