German high court: Demjanjuk's deportation legal

[July 08, 2009]  BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's highest court has rejected an attempt by John Demjanjuk to challenge his recent deportation from the United States to Munich for trial on charges of being accessory to murder at a Nazi death camp.

Germany's Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled against taking up the case on the grounds that the 89-year-old failed to provide sufficient evidence that his constitutional rights had been violated.

Under U.S. law, Demjanjuk was eligible to for deportation to Germany, Poland or Ukraine. Only the Germans agreed to take him in and on May 12, following a series of attempts to fight his deportation through the U.S. justice system, Demjanjuk was flown from Ohio to Munich.

Prosecutors in Munich accuse Demjanjuk of serving as a guard at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II and maintain that he was an accessory to murder in 29,000 cases.

Last week, a doctor ruled that the retired autoworker was fit to stand trial and expect formal charges later this month. His trial could begin as early as this autumn.

Ulrich Busch, an attorney for Demjanjuk in Germany, said he planned to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

Efforts to prosecute the Ukrainian native began in 1977 and have involved courts and government officials from at least five countries on three continents.

Charges of accessory to murder carry a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison in Germany.

[Associated Press]

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