No jail for Berlin Wall \'desk murderers\'
Publish date: 15 November 2004
Issue Number: 1217
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: General
Fifteen years to the day after the Berlin Wall fell, four ageing men - nicknamed \'desk murderers\' for ordering the installation of deadly mines along the old Cold War border - were convicted of being accessories to murder.
In a landmark ruling, the former East German border guards were found guilty in the last-ever trial of members of the former regime implicated in the killings of 1 065 people who died trying to cross to freedom. But, reports The Scotsman, justice was mild. They were told that because of their ages and the length of time that has since elapsed since the state they served collapsed into history, they will not serve any prison time. Full report in The Scotsman
