E. Germany’s Honecker Under House Arrest

Former Communist Party chief Erich Honecker and other members of his ousted leadership were placed under house arrest today, and the government disarmed the Communist Party’s private army.

Authorities placed Honecker and other former top officials under house arrest in their luxurious Wandlitz compound north of East Berlin. The compound has become a symbol of corruption and abuses of the past.

“The former General Secretary (of the Communist Party) and President Erich Honecker is among those who are not allowed to leave their houses in the elegant compound,” the official ADN news agency reported.

The house arrests were an act of “national self-defense” and resulted from “the will of the people,” said Harri Haarland, the deputy chief prosecutor.

The house arrests are intended to keep the former Politburo members from fleeing the country. Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, the former top foreign trader with the West, fled after allegations that he was involved in huge weapons deals.

Honecker, 77, has been in ill health after gallbladder surgery last summer and had been a virtual recluse in Wandlitz even before his arrest.

The Interior Ministry said the government was disarming the “fighting groups,” the Communist Party-run militia based in the nation’s factories.

The ministry said the weapons taken away included automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns as well as armored personnel carriers. The ministry said it was taking charge of the weapons.

Western estimates said the militia counted 3,000 active members, but could draw on reserves of 500,000 people.

Also today, East Germany’s top lawyer, Wolfgang Vogel, was arrested on suspicion of “criminal extortion,” the news agency said.