"Former gendarme Sándor Képiró, 96, goes on trial for his role in the massacre at Novi Sad in 1942, at the Municipal Court today. The Budapest Investigative Prosecutor's Office accuses Képiró of carrying out illegal executions. Képiró denies taking part in the killing of some 2,000 Jews, Roma and Serb civilians whilst serving as a gendarme officer in Novi Sad in January, 1942.

He returned to Hungary in 1996 after living in Austria and Argentina after the war.

Képiró is the first person to be tried in Hungary for war crimes during World War II since the late 1970s.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre filed the report against Képiró, who then sued Centre leader Ephraim Zuroff for libel for publicly calling him a war criminal in 2007 and 2008. Pest Central District Court acquitted Zuroff earlier this week. The verdict is not final, however, and Képiró is expected to lodge an appeal.

Zuroff said in a lecture at the Israeli Culture Institute in Budapest yesterday that Képiró is very old but is in adequate physical and mental health to stand trial, adding that his crimes have not expired, even after decades.

Former MP Zsolt Zétényi will act as Képiró’s defence lawyer."

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

This news item is one of many published daily by HATC, a premier subscription news service which distributes English-language info about Hungary via email or fax. For a free trial of HATC follow this link and click on 'Free Trial Subscription'.

xpatloop.com