Posted on 11/29/2005 12:25:19 PM PST by MRMEAN
CLEVELAND -- A man accused of being a Nazi concentration camp guard during World War II says he should not be deported because he could face torture in his native Ukraine.
The nation's chief immigration judge was scheduled to consider the court filing from John Demjanjuk at a hearing Tuesday. Demjanjuk lost his citizenship based on a Justice Department case against him.
"Mr. Demjanjuk's case makes him a high-profile candidate for mistreatment" if he is returned to the Ukraine, his attorney, John Broadley, said Monday.
However, the government argued in court documents that Demjanjuk has not shown that he is likely to be prosecuted, detained or tortured if he is deported.
The hearing before Chief Immigration Judge Michael J. Creppy is part of a process to determine whether Demjanjuk, 85, will be deported. Demjanjuk last appeared before Creppy in a videoconference hearing Feb. 28.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
Good grief. Wasn't this guy deported years ago? Is he still here? I thought this happened in the 1990s or sometime back or do I have him confused with another?
Nazi, tatzee...he was just following orders (just like Sep Dietrick at Malmady, Ikeman at the camps, Gobbels at press conferences, Himler at SS parades and Murtha at Nasty Nancy Pelosi's request)... < /sarc>
They sent him to Israel, tried him there, and he's back.
I have no idea whether this guy is really Ivan or not, but this is an absolute injustice either way.
If he's not Ivan, the poor guy is being tortured.
If he is Ivan, he's not getting what he deserves, (deportment, and probably death).
I never liked this case. The evidence came from soviet thugs.
Briefly, he originally lost his citizenship in 1981, for lying about his service as a concentration camp guard on his citizenship application. He was deported to Israel in 1986, tried for, among other things, the crimes of Ivan the Terrible at Treblinka. His misidentification as Ivan, a high profile Nazi, was the basis for Israel’s extradition request. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. In 1993, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled there was insufficient evidence that he was Ivan the Terrible, and that he couldn’t be retried on the other charges as the extradition was based on Ivan’s crimes. He returned to the US in the late 90s, his citizenship was restored, and Justice filed a new complaint based on his non-Ivan crimes, serving as a guard at Sobibor two other camps. He was tried again, his citizenship revoked, and he lost his final appeal in 2004. Obviously the legal machinations are still going on.
Every court that's looked at the case has come to the conclusion that he was a camp guard at Sobibor and two other camps, thus ineligible to enter the US. There's no question that he's not Ivan, which is why Israel returned him.
I don't see any injustice, he's had every benefit both our and Israel's legal system provides.
Thanks for asking for the back story. I remember what happened in Israel, but didn't know what happened after that.
He ought to voluntarily agree to go to the Baltic. He'd be safe enough there.
I don't know if anyone would be anxious to have him at this point. He should have thought about it in the late 40s, even if he didn't want to live in South America, Sweden or Canada would have been safe refuges.
My guess, his problem with the Ukraine stems not as much from his activities as a camp guard as his Red Army service. Three million or so Soviet prisoners held by the Nazis, under rather poor conditions. He was one of only 5,000 or so who took the "easy" out, volunteering for the SS. I'm guessing that still doesn't go down very well there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.