BERLIN (AP) — An 80-year-old former officer with communist East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for the murder of a Polish man at a border crossing in divided Berlin 50 years ago.
The Berlin state court said in its ruling that there was no doubt that the then-first lieutenant shot the 38-year-old Polish citizen Czesław Kukuczka in an ambush on March 29, 1974 on behalf of the East German secret police, German news agency dpa reported.
“It was not the act of an individual for personal reasons, but planned and mercilessly executed by the Stasi,” presiding judge Bernd Miczajka said in his sentencing remarks. He said the defendant, whose name was not given in line with German privacy rules, fired the shot “at the end of a chain of command," dpa reported.
The court fell short of the Berlin public prosecutor’s request for 12 years in prison. The accused’s defense lawyer had demanded an acquittal. According to lawyer Andrea Liebscher, it had not been proven that her client fired the fatal shot, dpa reported.
The defendant remained silent in court but his lawyer said at the beginning of the trial that he denied the allegations. The verdict can still be appealed.
The case goes back to March 29, 1974, when Kukuczka allegedly took a fake bomb to the Polish Embassy to threaten officials to allow him to leave for West Berlin, and the Stasi decided to pretend it was authorizing his departure.
He was provided with exit documents and accompanied to a border crossing at the Friedrichstrasse railway station in East Berlin, according to prosecutors.
The defendant — who was 31 at the time — was tasked with rendering the Polish man “harmless,” prosecutors said. After the Pole had passed the final checkpoint, the suspect allegedly shot him in the back from a hiding place.
Authorities made little headway with the case until a decisive tip-off about the identity of the shooter emerged in 2016 from the Stasi’s voluminous archives, dpa reported. Prosecutors initially suspected the case would amount to manslaughter, which unlike murder falls under the statute of limitations in Germany.
East Germany built the Berlin Wall in 1961, preventing most of its citizens from traveling to the West. Many tried to escape by tunneling under it, swimming past it, climbing or flying over it. At least 140 people died in the attempt.
The heavily fortified border was opened on Nov. 9, 1989, a key moment in the collapse of communism in Europe. Germany was reunited less than a year later.
The defendant stands in front of the district court and covers his face before the verdict is announced in the trial against the ex-Stasi employee for murder of a Polish citizen at the former Berlin-Friedrichstraße border crossing in 1974, in Berlin, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa via AP)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Seattle Kraken 6-2 on Saturday night.
After falling behind 1-0 less than three minutes into the game, the Golden Knights scored three unanswered goals in the first period and never relinquished the lead.
After Keegan Kolesar tied the game at 1-all, Brett Howden took Jack Eichel’s pass from behind the net and beat Philipp Grubauer at the doorstep to give Vegas a one-goal edge. Nic Hague's goal later in the period put Vegas up, 3-1.
William Karlsson and Noah Hanifin also added goals in the third and Ilya Samsonov stopped 21 shots to improve to 8-3-1. Eichel finished with two assists.
Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz scored for Seattle while Grubauer made 29 saves and fell to 3-10-0.
Kraken: Center Chandler Stephenson made his first return to Vegas since signing with Seattle as a free agent during the offseason. Stephenson is the only NHL player to hoist the Stanley Cup twice in Vegas, winning inside T-Mobile Arena with Washington in 2018, and again with the Knights in 2023.
Golden Knights: Vegas has won three straight and seven of eight in December. With the win, the Knights (47) are now four points in front of Los Angeles (43) in the Pacific Division and two points shy of Western Conference-leading Winnipeg (49).
Trailing 1-0, Kolesar took a cross-ice pass from Victor Olofsson that led him perfectly on a breakaway. Kolesar’s snipe over Grubauer’s glove gave him his career-high eighth goal of the season.
Seattle is now 1-17-1 when trailing after two periods while Vegas improved to 12-1-0 when leading after the first 40 minutes.
The Knights host the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night. The Kraken visit the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Vegas Golden Knights centers Brett Howden (21) and Jack Eichel (9) celebrate after Howden's goal against the Seattle Kraken during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Seattle Kraken center Yanni Gourde (37) and Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin (15) battle for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Keegan Kolesar (55) and right wing Cole Schwindt (22) celebrate after Kolesar's goal against the Seattle Kraken during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Seattle Kraken center Yanni Gourde shoots against Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Seattle Kraken center Chandler Stephenson (9) shoots against Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Ilya Samsonov (35) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Keegan Kolesar (55) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Seattle Kraken during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
