Defence plea

Tuesday 15 December 1992 00:02 GMT

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BERLIN (AP) - Echoing the testimony of his old boss, Erich Honecker, the former East German deputy defence minister denied yesterday that the Communists gave orders to kill people fleeing to the West.

Fritz Streletz , 66, insisted the shootings occurred within the normal regulations that other nations use to control their borders. He said fortifications were meant to keep the West out and not East Germans in.

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Defence plea

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