A US judge has revoked the stay of deportation for John Demjanjuk YMS, 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.
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.
(Source: BBC / AP)
One Response
And good riddance!