MUNICH, Germany (WJC) — The alleged Nazi war criminal Ivan Demjanjuk may have his trial postponed after an appeal to the court by his attorney. The 89-year-old Ukrainian-born man is on trial in Munich charged with helping to murder 27,900 Jews at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. The case resumed on Tuesday.
Demjanjuk’s defense lawyer Ulrich Busch said German law could not be applied to Demjanjuk as he was born in the Ukraine. He has also argued that the trial had to be suspended while documents from Demjanjuk’s previous trials in Israel and the US are located. Busch told the court that the defense could not be prepared properly “because of missing documents.” Demjanjuk’s lawyers have repeatedly called for the trial to be abandoned because of their client’s ill health.
Meanwhile, it is reported that Harry Männil, an Estonian alleged to have murdered 100 Jews during World War II, has died in his adopted homeland of Costa Rica at the age of 89. Männil was believed to be the richest Estonian in the world. In the past, Israeli authorities said that they had obtained documents from US authorities which indicated that he was a high-ranking Nazi. Männil himself always denied accusations.
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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress