The trial against an ex-Stasi employee for a fatal shot at the former GDR border crossing at Friedrichstrasse station is set to end sooner than previously announced. The court said in advance that the taking of evidence could be closed on today’s hearing (9 a.m.). If this is the case, the closing arguments could begin afterwards. However, a verdict from the Berlin Regional Court is not yet expected. The most recent dates given were for a continuation of the proceedings until mid-November.
The accused is a German from Leipzig, now 80 years old. The Berlin public prosecutor’s office accuses him of insidious murder. The accused, a first lieutenant at the time, is said to have shot the 38-year-old Pole Czesław Kukuczka in the back from a distance of two meters at the Friedrichstrasse border crossing on March 29, 1974. The man’s defense attorney stated at the start of the trial that her client denied the allegations.
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