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Subject: Ex-E. German Leaders Go on Trial in Berlin; Honecker Vigorous but Stoph Absent
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 04:39:11 EST
Message-ID: <21.1992Nov13.043912@AmeriCast.com>

Ex-E. German Leaders Go on Trial in Berlin; Honecker Vigorous but
Stoph Absent and Reported Ill<By Steve Vogel=Special to The Wash-
ington Post=

BERLIN, Nov.  12 - Defiantly flashing a victory sign, former East
German leader Erich Honecker, along with five of his Communist
colleagues, was put on trial here today for killings at the Ber-
lin Wall.

In what may be a harbinger of a long court process - expected by
authorities to last two years - today's opening session was ad-
journed after only 45 minutes because of health problems.  Co-
defendant Willi Stoph, 78, former East German prime minister, did
not appear in court because of a heart attack, his attorneys
said. Judge Hansgeorg Braeutigam ordered a court medical examina-
tion and set the trial to resume Monday.

Honecker, who oversaw the erection of the Berlin Wall, and the
others are accused of manslaughter by issuing orders that led to
the deaths of 13 people killed by gunfire or mines while trying
to escape across the wall or frontier into West Germany.

The 13 deaths selected for prosecution are intended to be
representative of the approximately 200 people killed trying to
flee since the wall was built in 1961.

Defense attorneys have argued that Honecker, 80 and suffering
from terminal liver cancer, is too ill to go on trial, and they
charge that the courts have bowed to political pressure to put on
a show trial.

Nonetheless, Honecker appeared quite vigorous in court today,
even doing a few knee bends during a recess. Dressed crisply in a
dark blue suit and red tie, he moved about with a ramrod posture,
chatting alertly with his attorneys.

"Erich, the Red Front greets you," a spectator called out as he
sat at a defense table awaiting the start of the trial. Honecker
responded with a clenched fist salute and a pleased smile.

Other former officials on trial are security chief Erich Mielke,
84; defense minister Heinz Kessler, 72; his deputy Fritz
Streletz, 66; and Hans Albrecht, 73, a local Communist Party
boss.

Mielke, once one of the most feared men in East Germany, had to
be assisted into the courtroom by a bailiff and sat slumped at
his table.

The scene around the courthouse this morning was one of chaos.
Outside, dozens of protesters demanded that Honecker be set free,
calling him a political prisoner. The demonstrators were angrily
heckled by Berliners passing by, and several shouting matches
broke out.

Spectators began lining up at 2 a.m., more than seven hours be-
fore the trial's start, hoping to get one of the 65 seats
reserved for the public. Only 70 of the estimated 300 reporters
from around the world covering the trial were given credentials.
Also on hand, serving under the German legal system as co-
accusers, were four relatives of the victims.

"I can't excuse him for what he's done," Karin Gueffroy told Ger-
man television. Her son, Chris, was the last victim at the Berlin
Wall, shot there in February 1989.

The trial culminates a three-year odyssey for Honecker, who
resigned as Communist Party chairman under pressure shortly be-
fore the Berlin Wall fell and fled to what was then the Soviet
Union. Last July, he was forced out of the Chilean Embassy in
Moscow, where he had taken sanctuary.

At the core of the case is the record from an East German Nation-
al Defense Council meeting on May 6, 1974, that the prosecution
contends shows that Honecker and the others knew and approved of
killing people attempting to flee East Germany. All six of the
co-defendants were present at the meeting, prosecutors say.

It was agreed at the meeting that "the ruthless use of firearms
must continue to be applied in response to attempts at illegally
crossing the border," according to a record of the meeting.

But, legal observers say, no written order from Honecker directly
ordering guards to shoot those fleeing has been found.

Honecker's attorneys are expected to challenge application of
West German laws to alleged crimes committed in another country.
Moreover, attorney Nikolas Becker said, Honecker will contend
that the Berlin Wall was built based on orders from the Kremlin
and that he was not responsible for the security measures.

"He thinks that it's a political trial," Becker said in an inter-
view, "a victorious NATO state against the former leader of a
Warsaw Pact state who has lost."

Honecker and his attorneys have promised to make the trial as
painful as possible for Western politicians.

It has not escaped notice that before his fall, Honecker had been
a welcome, even fawned-over, guest in West Germany. The press
regularly runs photographs such as one of Honecker and Chancellor
Helmut Kohl standing together, heads bowed, when the East German
chief was received in Bonn with military honors during a 1987
visit.

"We'll talk about the hypocrisy of the Bonn politicians who
queued up for television time with Honecker only a few years ago,
and now say he's the worst criminal of all time," Becker said.

"What right do they have to judge Honecker?" asked Gisela Rolack,
an eastern Berliner who was among the protesters outside the
court. "It's a political trial, and not just against Honecker and
the others, but also against the citizens of East Germany."

Nonetheless, polls have shown that as many as four-fifths of Ger-
mans support putting Honecker on trial.

Stoph's absence today underscored the extent to which health
problems may play a major role in the trial. A court medical
adviser has estimated that Honecker has no more than 18 months to
live because of rapidly advancing cancer, and there are serious
health concerns about most of the others, as well as speculation
about whether they will survive for the two years the trial may
take.02:18 11-13C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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