John Hooper in Berlin
The former head of East Germany’s Olympic programme went on trial this week in what will be an unprecedented public examination of the project to produce super women athletes by feeding them steroids without their knowledge.
Opening the trial of Manfred Ewald, once head of the Gymnastics and Sports Federation, the presiding judge dismissed moves for a one-day, open-and-shut trial of the sort which became routine for former communist officials accused of doping.
“This is not going to be a trial carried out behind the backs of those affected,” Judge Dirk Dickhaus said.
He rejected defence claims that the 73- year-old defendant would be unable to follow the proceedings.
Ewald is the most senior former official to be brought before the courts on doping charges since the collapse of the German Democratic Republic.
He is accused, together with a doctor, Manfred H”ppner, of aiding and abetting the bodily harming of 142 sportswomen, most of them swimmers and athletes.
In earlier cases, former officials have testified that – beginning in the 1970s – the state systematically doped its sportsmen and women to boost its achievements.
Some girls were started on injections or pills as young as 11, their coaches instructed to tell them they were taking vitamins, prosecutor Klaus-Heinrich Debes told the court.
He quoted Ewald as saying: “They’re still so young and don’t have to know everything.” The prosecution accused Ewald of dismissing warnings of health risks, accusing the experts who made them of “cowardice”.
The indictment alleges that the two men were responsible for lasting side-effects from the intake of anabolic steroids. These included hormonal disturbances and damage to internal organs.
Some women were still suffering from gynaecological disorders, it says. Thirty- two of the sportswomen referred to in the indictment have made themselves party to the case.
They have been waiting for an opportunity to tell their stories, but have been repeatedly thwarted by plea- bargain deals that have resulted in brief hearings at which officials, trainers and doctors involved in doping were fined or given suspended sentences in return for a full confession.