(MUNICH) — German prosecutors formally charged John Demjanjuk
on Monday with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder
at a Nazi death camp during World War II.
The charges against the 89-year-old retired auto worker, who was deported from
the U.S. in May, were filed at a Munich state court, prosecutors
in the city said in a brief statement. There was no immediate
word on when a trial might start. (See pictures of Hitler's
rise to power.)
Doctors cleared the way for formal
charges earlier this month, determining that Demjanjuk (dem-YAHN'-yuk)
was fit to stand trial so long as court sessions do not exceed
two 90-minute blocs per day.
Prosecutors accuse Demjanjuk of serving
as a guard at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland during
World War II.
Demjanjuk says he was a Red Army soldier
who spent World War II as a prisoner of war and never hurt
anyone.
But Nazi-era documents obtained by
U.S. justice authorities and shared with German prosecutors
include a photo ID identifying Demjanjuk as a guard at the
Sobibor death camp and information that he was trained at
an SS facility for Nazi guards at Trawniki, which was also
in occupied-Poland.
Charges of accessory to murder carry
a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison in Germany.
Efraim Zuroff, the top Nazi-hunter
at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, welcomed the filing of formal
charges.
"This is obviously an important
step forward," Zuroff said by telephone from Jerusalem. "We hope that the trial itself will be expedited so that justice will be achieved
and he can be given the appropriate punishment."
"The effort to bring Demjanjuk
to justice sends a very powerful message that the passage
of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrator," Zuroff said.
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