Demjanjuk Nazi war crimes trial begins
John Demjanjuk
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Monday, 30, Nov 2009 11:35
By Richard James.
An 89-year-old man has gone on trial in Munich accused of helping to murder more than 27,000 people at a Nazi death camp.
John Demjanjuk was deported to Germany from the US in May and has been held in custody ever since.
He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted for his alleged work as a guard at the Sobibor camp in occupied Poland.
Mr Demjanjuk was declared fit to stand trial by health officials despite his family's claims that his terminally ill.
This morning he was wheeled into the court in a wheelchair accompanied by two guards and two medical officials.
The 89-year-old maintains he was Red Army soldier during the war and was captured by the Nazis, spending his time in a POW camp.
German prosecutors have attempted for decades to place Mr Demjanjuk on trial.
He was first convicted and sentenced to death after being found guilty of similar charges in Israel in 1986. However, he was later acquitted before moving to the US in 1998.