An ex-Stasi officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday for murder in connection with a fatal 1974 shooting at a border crossing between the former East and West Germany in Berlin.
The 80-year-old man from the eastern city of Leipzig was a first lieutenant in the East German secret police, better known as the Stasi, at the time of the incident at Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse intersection on March 29, 1974.
He was accused of shooting 38-year-old Pole Czesław Kukuczka in the back from a distance of 2 to 3 meters after being given the task of “neutralizing” the victim.
More than 50 years later, Berlin’s regional court found the officer guilty of murder on Monday and imposed a 10-year prison sentence, slightly less than the 12 years sought by prosecutors.