Nazi crimes suspect in Australia to appeal Latvian arrest ruling

October 25, 2000
Web posted at: 6:20 AM HKT (2220 GMT)

RIGA, Latvia (Reuters) -- The Latvian lawyer for elderly Nazi-era war crimes and genocide suspect Konrads Kalejs said on Tuesday he would appeal a court ruling allowing prosecutors to order his client's arrest.

Juris Moculskis said he had seven days to appeal a Monday court ruling, which had cleared the way for Latvia to seek the deportation of 87-year old Kalejs from Melbourne, Australia, where he lives and holds citizenship.

"I will definitely protest against this court decision and I now have seven days to do so," Moculskis told Reuters.

"I have not consulted with my client about this but there are several reasons for me to do so and firstly it is his poor state of health," he added.

Latvian prosecutors announced on September 28 that they had filed charges against Kalejs stemming from his time as an alleged commander of a concentration camp guard company during the Nazi occupation of Latvia in World War II.

A court granted permission on Monday for prosecutors to order Kalejs's arrest, providing the legal grounds for Latvia to ask Australia to send him back to his native Latvia to stand trial, despite the fact that the countries have no extradition treaty. Latvia is expected to ratify one by year-end.

A formal protest, or appeal, submitted by Moculskis would go to a higher court, whose ruling cannot be overturned.

Although he has admitted to being a member of the Nazi-backed Arajs hit squad, which was responsible for 30,000 murders in the Baltic country, Kalejs has denied all war crimes, saying he was at university when the 1941 killings took place.

'God has already punished him'

Moculskis said he did not know what exact evidence had been gathered against his client.

"As for his health I have certificates verifying Mr Kalejs is blind, has prostate cancer in an advanced stage and progressing dementia," Moculskis said.

"In my understanding God has already punished him and there is no need for a trial by humans," he added.

If extradited, Kalejs would be the first Latvian Nazi-era war crimes suspect to be brought to trial since the country regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, although Nazi hunters say there are others who should stand trial.

"We call upon the Latvian authorities to invest the same energies and resources in the cases of Arajs Kommando officer Karlis Ozols," Efraim Zuroff, head of Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Jerusalem office, said in a statement.

In March Latvian prosecutors opened a criminal case against another 87-year-old Australian citizen, Karlis Ozols who is suspected of war crimes and genocide, but have not filed charges.

During the WWII occupation, 95-percent of Latvia's 70,000-strong Jewish population died.

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