In 1997, Krenz was sentenced to six-and-a-half years' imprisonment for Cold War crimes, specifically manslaughter of four Germans attempting to escape East Germany over the Berlin Wall.
He was also charged with electoral fraud, along with other criminal offences.

He appealed, arguing that the legal framework of the newly reunited German state did not apply to events that had taken place in the former GDR.
Krenz also argued that the prosecution of former GDR officials was a breach of a personal agreement given by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev during their talks, which led to German reunification.
However, the verdict was upheld in 1999.
Krenz reportedly described his conviction as "victor's justice" and "cold war in court", saying, "The victorious power is avenging itself on the representatives of the defeated power" (Die siegreiche Macht rächt sich an den Vertretern der besiegten Macht).

Krenz began serving his sentence in Hakenfelde Prison shortly thereafter, before he was transferred to Plötzensee Prison, a prison with stricter rules.
Krenz's application to the European Court of Human Rights on alleged misuse of GDR criminal laws reached the Grand Chamber, but was rejected in 2001.

He was released from prison in December 2003 after serving nearly four years of his sentence, and quietly retired with his wife Erika (11 November 1939 – 4 March 2017) to Dierhagen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
He remained on parole until the end of his sentence in 2006.
In 1997, Krenz was sentenced to six-and-a-half years' imprisonment for Cold War crimes, specifically manslaughter of four Germans attempting to escape East Germany over the Berlin Wall. He was also charged with electoral fraud, along with other criminal offences.
He appealed, arguing that the legal framework of the newly reunited German state did not apply to events that had taken place in the former GDR. Krenz also argued that the prosecution of former GDR officials was a breach of a personal agreement given by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev during their talks, which led to German reunification. However, the verdict was upheld in 1999. Krenz reportedly described his conviction as "victor's justice" and "cold war in court", saying, "The victorious power is avenging itself on the representatives of the defeated power" (Die siegreiche Macht rächt sich an den Vertretern der besiegten Macht).
Krenz began serving his sentence in Hakenfelde Prison shortly thereafter, before he was transferred to Plötzensee Prison, a prison with stricter rules. Krenz's application to the European Court of Human Rights on alleged misuse of GDR criminal laws reached the Grand Chamber, but was rejected in 2001.
He was released from prison in December 2003 after serving nearly four years of his sentence, and quietly retired with his wife Erika (11 November 1939 – 4 March 2017) to Dierhagen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He remained on parole until the end of his sentence in 2006.
Egon Krenz