bbc.co.uk | 06Apr2009 | News
http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/2/hi/americas/7986249.stm
'Death camp Nazi' can be deported
A US judge has revoked the stay of deportation for John Demjanjuk, who
is accused of being an accessory to the murder of 29,000 Jews in a Nazi
camp.
The judge's decision clears the way for Mr Demjanjuk, 89, to be sent to
Germany to face trial over his alleged crimes.
Mr Demjanjuk, who moved to the US after World War II, is accused of
being a death camp guard in occupied Poland.
The Ukrainian had pleaded against deportation on grounds of ill health.
He has denied any part in the killings.
Arrest warrant
On Friday, Mr Demjanjuk, who lives in Cleveland, Ohio, was given a
reprieve from deportation after arguing that his case should be
reopened.
But the presiding judge, Judge Wayne R Iskra, reversed his initial
decision on Monday, agreeing with a US Department of Justice comment
that the US Board of Immigration Appeals should handle the case.
The board had previously ruled Mr Demjanjuk be sent to Germany to stand
trial.
In March, Germany issued an arrest warrant for the former car plant
worker over the deaths of thousands of Jews at the Sobibor camp during
World War II.
German authorities had initially expected him in the country on Monday.
But Mr Demjanjuk, who came to the US in 1952, says he was a prisoner of
war of the Nazis rather than a prison guard.
In 2002, a US immigration judge ruled that there was enough evidence to
prove Mr Demjanjuk had been a guard at several Nazi death camps and
stripped him of his citizenship.
German authorities now say they have new evidence linking him to the
crimes of which he has been accused.