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Michael Jackson had Stasi file because of Berlin Wall gig

Michael Jackson found himself in the files of the East German secret police, the Stasi, because of a concert he gave right next to the Berlin Wall in 1988, mass circulation Bild reported on Thursday.

Berlin: Michael Jackson found himself in the files of the East German secret police, the Stasi, because of a concert he gave right next to the Berlin Wall in 1988, mass circulation Bild reported on Thursday. The Stasi feared young people would attempt to crash through the forbidden zone near Berlin`s Brandenburg Gate in the heart of the city to try to get as close to the Wall as possible to listen to the concert.
"Certain youngsters (in some cases named specifically) are planning a confrontation with the police," said a Stasi file dated May 4, 1988, cited by Bild. To prevent this, the Stasi planned a "diversionary concert" to keep people away. The idea was to draw the youths to a stadium deeper inside East Berlin where the concert would be retransmitted on a large screen with a two-minute delay. If the authorities got a whiff of "political provocation" on the part of the West, the transmission would be replaced with a tape of an old Jackson concert. But the plan was never put into action. Instead the Stasi reverted to type and police violently dispersed those who attempted to get close to the Wall when the concert took place on June 19. Bureau Report