Kohl Wins Fight to Keep Spy Files on Him Closed

Wiretap recordings of Helmut Kohl collected by the East German secret police were sealed by a court, handing the former chancellor a victory with broad implications for public access to the Communist-era spy files.

Kohl, whose 16 years in power included the reunification of Germany in 1990, had argued that he was entitled to protection under the law for victims of the Stasi secret police.

The verdict by the Federal Administrative Court in Berlin means that the Stasi archive can no longer release files on public figures other than Stasi collaborators without their consent, said a spokesman for the archive.