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Fatal Stasi shot: Process against ex-lieutenant starts!
In the trial of an ex-Stasi employee, alleged murder of a pole at the border crossing is decided. Plädoyers will start soon.
Fatal Stasi shot: Process against ex-lieutenant starts!
The trial against a former Stasi employee who is held responsible for a fatal shot at the former Bahnhof Friedrichstrasse border crossing could enter into the decisive phase. On Monday, the pleadings may be heard in this sensational case. Whether the 80-year-old defendant from Leipzig will say something about his person on this extremely important negotiation day is still on discussion.
The accused, who has held the rank of Lieutenant in the past, faces the serious indictment of the insidious murder. According to the public prosecutor, on March 29, 1974, he was said to have killed 38-year-old Poland Czesław Kukuczka at the Friedrichstrasse border crossing with a targeted shot from a distance of just two meters. At the beginning of the trial, the defense had emphasized that its client vehemently denied this allegations, which also causes excitement.
Investigation steps and new knowledge
The circumstances that led to the indictment are anything but simple. For many years, the case was due to a lack of evidence and witnesses in the files. It was only in 2016 that decisive progress occurred when new references to a potential shooter were discovered based on Stasi documents. Previously, the public prosecutor had originally accepted a manslaughter, which would have been exported. However, the new findings led to the conviction that the crime should be classified as a murder, since the murder feature of the homes is met.
The legal and moral finding questions that revolve around this case could be of enormous scope. They throw a shadow on the past of the GDR and the role that the Stasi played in the surveillance and oppression of its citizens. At least in the context of this negotiation it will be essential how the processing of these acts develops and which actors could still come into focus.
For further information on this exciting process and the associated legal aspects, see the current reporting on www.sueddeutsche.de .