BUDAPEST - The prosecutor in the trial of suspected Nazi war criminal Sandor Kepiro called Wednesday for the defendant to serve time in prison and not be let off, despite his age and thin evidence.

In his summation, Zsolt Falvai said Kepiro "participated in the unlawful execution of people, and therefore he committed a war crime".

" I ask the court to sentence the defendant to prison," he said.

Kepiro's "involvement in the murder of almost 40 people (was) an aggravating circumstance" that cancelled out the defence's argument that the suspect's old age and poor health should result in a lighter sentence, Falvai went on.

The one-time gendarmerie officer is on trial for his alleged participation in a raid by Hungarian forces on the Serbian town of Novi Sad on January 21-23, 1942, in which more than 1,200 Jews and Serbs were murdered.

Specifically, the 97-year-old — one of the last suspected Nazi war criminals to face trial — is accused of ordering the rounding up and execution of 36 Jews and Serbs as head of one of the patrols involved in the raid.

" Under the defendant's orders, a couple was shot without reason," Falvai noted in his final statement Wednesday, recounting the events of January 23, 1942, the goal of which "was the annihilation of unreliable individuals: Jews and Serbians".

Kepiro also ordered the execution of a further 30 people.

" When his patrol came across a group that had been rounded up, the defendant asked the driver of a truck if he could take them to the execution site," Falvai said.

The execution squad then shot them, according to the testimony from a previous trial of one of Kepiro's soldiers, Janos Nagy, which is being used by the prosecution in the case against Kepiro.

The defendant has denied knowing Nagy however.

The prosecution's case against Kepiro has rested heavily on old testimonies and verdicts from previous trials.

But Falvai insists that verdicts dating back to 1944 and 1946, both condemning Kepiro, are suitable as evidence, a stance the defence has questioned.

The 1944 verdict was annulled during the Nazi occupation of Hungary "under political pressure from Germany, not due to professional reasons", Falvai said.

Kepiro, who appeared in court Wednesday looking weak in a wheelchair, has denied any involvement in the killings.

The trial continues Friday with the defence's closing arguments, and a verdict was expected in three weeks.

montrealgazette.com