The Berlin Regional Court on Monday sentenced a former East German secret police employee to ten years in prison for a murder at a border crossing in 1974.

The ruling was the first-ever conviction against a former employee of the Stasi, communist East Germany's secret police, for actions carried out while in service.

What were the allegations?

Prosecutors had alleged that ex-Stasi officer Martin N., 80, murdered Pole Czeslaw Kukuczka at close range as he sought to escape to the West through Berlin's Friedrichstrasse border point.

On the day of the crime, the victim had entered the Polish embassy in East Berlin with a fake bomb seeking to force his departure to West Berlin because he wanted to emigrate to the US. He had threatened to blow up the embassy if his request was denied.

The Stasi pretended to allow the man to leave to the West, giving him documents and escorting him to the station, but had other plans. 

The Pole had successfully passed all the controls at the crossing, dubbed the "Palace of Tears" for its frequent sad farewells. 

It was only then that he was shot in the back by the defendant, who belonged to a Stasi operational group and was 31 years old at the time. He had been tasked with "neutralizing" the victim and shot him in the back from a distance of 2 to 3 meters (roughly 6 to 10 feet).

Earlier efforts to investigate the case were blocked by East German authorities. However crucial evidence emerged from the Stasi archive in 2016, which showed the defendant was awarded a combat medal for his actions.

What happened in court

Three West German schoolgirls who were returning from a class trip witnessed the killing at the crossing. Five decades later, they were called to testify during N.'s trial in Berlin.

Judge Bernd Miczajka acknowledged the crime was "not the act of an individual for personal reasons, but planned and mercilessly executed by the Stasi."

While the defendant was "at the end of a chain of command," Miczajka said, he was later rewarded for his actions. 

The man remained silent during the trial, which started in March. Prosecutors had demanded a 12-year sentence, branding the shooting "an insidious case of murder."

The crime was initially classed as manslaughter, which would have exceeded the time limit for prosecution under Germany's statute of limitations. However, efforts by Polish investigators led Berlin prosecutors to re-classify the crime in 2023 as "treacherous."

rc/zc (AFP, dpa)