Court rejects appeal to block trial of accused Nazi guard Demjanjuk

Germany's constitutional court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by 89-year-old John Demjanjuk, accused of helping murder 27,900 Jews in a Nazi death camp, to have his scheduled Nov. 30 trial blocked.

AFP - John Demjanjuk, accused of assisting in the murder of 27,900 Jews in a Nazi death camp, failed on Wednesday in an attempt to have his trial starting November 30 blocked.

Germany's constitutional court said on Wednesday it had thrown out an appeal by the 89-year-old's lawyers on grounds of his ailing health and because he had already spent time in Israeli jails.

In what is likely to be one of the last major Nazi war-crimes trials in Germany, Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk, is due to stand trial in Munich, accused of being a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Demjanjuk's family insists he is innocent and that he is too ill to stand trial. He was deported from the United States in May.

He was sentenced to death by an Israeli court two decades ago after he was convicted of being the feared death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible" but the ruling was overturned in 1993.

 

Date created : 2009-10-21