Trial of alleged Nazi prison guard begins

[Scurrilous]

Source: Deutsche Welle

The trial of alleged Nazi prison guard John Demjanjuk has begun. With many of those accused of Nazi war crimes deceased or very elderly, this could be the last trial of its kind in Germany.

<snip>

"After delays caused by the large crowds of relatives of Holocaust victims hoping to enter the courtroom, the trial of Ukranian-born John Demjanjuk began in Munich on Monday. He faces charges that he assisted in the murder of 27,900 people as a guard at the Nazi death camp Sobibor.

Demjanjuk, 89, entered the courtroom in a wheelchair. He has been in German custody since his deportation from the United States last May. His trial is expected to run until May 2010.

Demjanjuk has been playing a cat-and-mouse game with justice officials for decades. He emigrated to the United States in 1951 and became a naturalized citizen in 1958. He was extradited to Israel in 1981 and faced trial, where he was sentenced to death, although the Israeli Supreme Court later overturned the conviction.

He returned to his home near Cleveland in 1993 and his citizenship was later restored. But a new investigation was opened and in 2002, a federal judge rescinded his citizenship and Demjanjuk was ordered to be deported in 2005."

Read more: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4942000,00.html

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In pictures: The story of John Demjanjuk

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8386146.stm

[COLGATE4]

1. Finally the evil bastard may get the justice he so richly deserves

[Sinistrous]

2. Guilty until proven innocent, eh?

[11cents]

3. Already proved in court - he was a guard at Sobibor

The only survivors of Sobibor were a few hundred people kept on as slave laborers who escaped.

For everyone else who arrived at Sobibor, survival time amounted to a couple of hours.

Yes, guilty.

[Sinistrous]

4. First conviction overturned. This trial based on

an investigation, not a trial resulting in conviction.

[happyslug]

5. No actual activity was proved in court, the conviction was overturned based on facts

Unlike the American Legal System, Appellant courts in Israel can re-weigh the facts and by the time the case arrived at the Israeli Supreme Court the evidence was clear, the crimes of "Ivan the Terrible" could NOT have been done by Demjanjuk for "Ivan the Terrible" had been someone else and had died at the end of WWII. Thus the Supreme Court of Israel reversed the Conviction on this FACTUAL finding and released Demenjuk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Demjanjuk

No other finding of facts were made by the Israeli courts (Through it was speculated that he had been a Guard at Solibor, that was just speculation NOT a finding of fact except in that Demjanjuk MAY have been a Guard at the time "Ivan the Terrible" was committing his crimes at Treblinka).

http://www.fpp.co.uk/BoD/origins/Demjanjuk/LATimes140701.html

[Piewhacket]

6. No court has ruled that he was a guard at Sobibor.

If he was convicted of being a guard at Sobibor,
then they wouldn't need to be having a trial to
decide whether he was a guard at Sobibor.

Just stands to reason, doesn't it?

[Xenotime]

8. There seems to be a lot of that going around DU these days...

So sad.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The Stranger]

7. Are they going to do the same thing one day to the Guantanamo guards?