
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 7, 1993                   TAG: 9312070063
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: DUESSELDORF, GERMANY                                LENGTH: Short

EX-SPYMASTER CONVICTED

Infamous East German spymaster Markus Wolf was found guilty Monday of treason and bribery and sentenced to six years in prison, as his controversial trial ended amid cries that he is a victim of a "victor's justice."

The remarkable court case concluded with the former East German spy convicted of betraying a country - West Germany - of which he was never a citizen.

As the legendary head of East Germany's spy agency from 1958 to 1987, the tall and refined Wolf created one of the Cold War's most effective intelligence operations and directed agents who scored embarrassing coups against their West German counterparts.

Wolf has never denied involvement in such espionage, admitting to the government's charges when the trial opened in May. But he maintained the actions were on behalf of a sovereign government and no different from those conducted by Western agencies.

Chief Judge Klaus Wagner declared in court that Wolf's actions had endangered West German security. "He has not been convicted as a symbol of the former East Germany, but instead because of his responsibility for espionage against West Germany," he said.

Wolf, 70, described the verdict as preordained and called the seven-month trial "a mist behind which the political character of this, so to speak, victor's justice was to be hidden."

by CNB