Trial opens in Nazi death camp case
Source: Agencies |
December 1, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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A GERMAN court put John Demjanjuk on trial yesterday to face charges of being an accessory to the murder of 27,900 Jews at a Nazi death camp and his lawyer immediately accused the court in Munich of bias.
The 89-year-old retired Ohio auto worker arrived in a wheelchair to face the final chapter of some 30 years of efforts to prosecute him, wearing a navy baseball cap and covered in a light blue blanket.
His attorney opened the proceedings by filing a motion against the court's judge and prosecutors, accusing them of treating the Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk harsher than Germans who ran the Nazi's Sobidor death camp in occupied Poland.
Lawyer Ulrich Busch charged that the case should never have been brought to trial. He cited cases in which Germans assigned to Sobibor - where prosecutors allege Demjanjuk served as a guard - were acquitted.
"How can you say that those who gave the orders were innocent ... and the one who received the orders is guilty?" Busch told the court. "There is a moral and legal double standard being applied today."
Demjanjuk was deported in May from the United States to Germany, and has been in custody since then. He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
A doctor who examined Demjanjuk two hours before the trial began said his vital signs were all stable.
Demjanjuk's family says he is terminally ill. His trial has been limited to two 90-minute sessions per day.
Demjanjuk kept his eyes closed throughout the proceedings and remained mute in response to the judge's questions about his personal details. He repeatedly opened his mouth, apparently wincing in pain.
Efraim Zuroff, the top Nazi-hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said it was important the trial was finally taking place, but felt that Demjanjuk may have been trying to look more ill than he was.
"He has a vested interest in appearing as sick and as frail as possible. And he's going to play it up to the hilt," said Zuroff, who attended the opening.
The 89-year-old retired Ohio auto worker arrived in a wheelchair to face the final chapter of some 30 years of efforts to prosecute him, wearing a navy baseball cap and covered in a light blue blanket.
His attorney opened the proceedings by filing a motion against the court's judge and prosecutors, accusing them of treating the Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk harsher than Germans who ran the Nazi's Sobidor death camp in occupied Poland.
Lawyer Ulrich Busch charged that the case should never have been brought to trial. He cited cases in which Germans assigned to Sobibor - where prosecutors allege Demjanjuk served as a guard - were acquitted.
"How can you say that those who gave the orders were innocent ... and the one who received the orders is guilty?" Busch told the court. "There is a moral and legal double standard being applied today."
Demjanjuk was deported in May from the United States to Germany, and has been in custody since then. He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
A doctor who examined Demjanjuk two hours before the trial began said his vital signs were all stable.
Demjanjuk's family says he is terminally ill. His trial has been limited to two 90-minute sessions per day.
Demjanjuk kept his eyes closed throughout the proceedings and remained mute in response to the judge's questions about his personal details. He repeatedly opened his mouth, apparently wincing in pain.
Efraim Zuroff, the top Nazi-hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said it was important the trial was finally taking place, but felt that Demjanjuk may have been trying to look more ill than he was.
"He has a vested interest in appearing as sick and as frail as possible. And he's going to play it up to the hilt," said Zuroff, who attended the opening.
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