Ex-Stasi officer convicted of murder over 1974 Berlin shooting

An ex-Stasi officer on Monday received 10 years in prison for murder in connection with a fatal 1974 shooting at a border crossing between the former East and West Germany in Berlin.

The 80-year-old man from the eastern city of Leipzig was a first lieutenant in the East German secret police, commonly known as the Stasi, at the time of the incident at Berlin's Friedrichstrasse crossing on March 29, 1974.

He was accused of gunning down the 38-year-old Pole Czesław Kukuczka in the back from a distance of 2 to 3 metres, having been tasked with "neutralizing" the victim.

More than 50 years later, the Berlin Regional Court on Monday found the officer guilty of murder and handed down a 10-year sentence, slightly lower than the 12 years demanded by prosecutors.