East’s Last Leader Begins Prison Term

East Germany’s last Communist leader went to jail, the most prominent member of the former regime to be brought to justice in the deaths of citizens shot at the Berlin Wall as they sought to flee. As he reported to a minimum-security prison in Berlin to start serving a 6 1/2-year sentence for manslaughter, Egon Krenz repeated his contention that he is a victim of judicial vengeance after German unification in 1990. Krenz, 62, is expected to be allowed to leave during the day and be required only to spend nights in his cell, according to his lawyer, Robert Unger. East Germany’s leader at the time the Berlin Wall fell on Nov. 9, 1989, Krenz was convicted of manslaughter in 1997 for his role in the government’s shoot-to-kill policy at the Berlin Wall.