Copenhagen (dpa) - Denmark was due to ask German justice authorities to extradite a former Danish SS officer, Danish police said Friday.
A year ago, Germany turned down a similar request for the extradition of Danish-born Soren Kam, who is suspected of involvement in the murder of a resistance member in 1943 when Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany.
The 84-year-old Kam, who lives in southern Germany, became a German citizen in 1956. A probe after the war indicated that three SS members were involved in the killing of the resistance member.
Kam later blamed the killing on the sole SS member who in 1946 was brought to justice and executed for the crime. A second accomplice disappeared without trace.
Last year, Denmark tried to use the European Union extradition law for the extradition of Kam, but a German court ruled that it violated the German constitution as it pertains to German citizens.
Germany changed its legislation earlier this week.
"As we read the new German legislation, this gives an opening," Arne Stevns, head of the Lyngby police, told Danish news agency Ritzau.
Stevns said the extradition request would be made by the Danish Justice Ministry, but he did not know when the ministry would act.
Danish courts had earlier ruled that there were strong suspicions of Kam's involvement in the killing.
Legal experts felt that Kam's age would save him from having to serve a prison term if convicted. |
