Mielke, 87, was charged with six counts of manslaughter. The prosecutors charged that, as a senior member of East Germany's Communist leadership, Mielke had been among those responsible for installing mines along the East German borders and for ordering border guards to shoot would-be escapees.
A recent psychiatric evaluation determined that Mielke could no longer comprehend what was going on at the trial and the court said it was dropping the case for health reasons.
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