Advertisement

World IN BRIEF : GERMANY : Court Orders Retrial for East’s Spymaster

Share
From Times Wire Reports

Germany’s federal appeals court threw out the conviction of former East German spymaster Markus Wolf and ordered a retrial to determine if he ever personally spied in the West. The decision follows a May 23 ruling by Germany’s highest court that East German spy leaders could not be tried for treason if their work was done entirely in East Germany. Wolf, who headed East Germany’s foreign intelligence service from 1953 to 1986, was sentenced to six years in prison in 1993 for espionage. There was no immediate reaction from the 72-year-old Wolf, who was not in the Karlsruhe courtroom and has been free pending the appeal.

Advertisement