An unnamed German man was arrested in the Czech Republic this week on warrant dating to 1984 for the crime of escaping the country into West Germany during the Cold War, DPA reports.
“We proceeded in accordance with the law,” cops said after the arrest, given that the man, a vacationer detained while eating breakfast at a hotel with his family in the Giant Mountains region of the northern part of the country. Turns out that, despite the Eastern Bloc having transitioned to capitalist democracies in 1989, some people wanted for criminal offenses are still on lists that aren’t always scrutinized properly for the actual offenses themselves. As far as the public information goes, the man was deemed inadmissible into the Czech Republic simply escaped from a “socialist camp” and made his way to the border. A lawyer told DPA that some of the “offenders” might have committed theft or fraud to make good on their escape, but it’s not clear if the man was wanted for anything other than his exit. Cops said it’s up to a judge to make a determination on the case.