
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 2, 1993                   TAG: 9309020057
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. WON'T FIGHT RETURN OF DEMJANJUK

The Justice Department will not fight the return of accused Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk to the United States but it will try to have him deported after he arrives, Attorney General Janet Reno said Wednesday.

The decision not to ask the Supreme Court for an emergency stay of a lower court order permitting Demjanjuk to return to help appeal his extradition drew immediate criticism from Jewish groups and praise from Demjanjuk relatives.

Demjanjuk, a retired Cleveland auto worker, was convicted in Israel in 1988 on charges he was Ivan the Terrible, a notorious gas chamber guard at the Treblinka death camp, where 850,000 Jews were killed during World War II. His conviction was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court in July, citing new evidence from the former Soviet Union.

Solicitor General Drew S. Days III made the decision not to seek a stay of the order by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Reno concurred, she told reporters.

"Based on the law and all the circumstances of the case, I agree with his decision," Reno said. "Based on the law and the opportunities to go to the Supreme Court, we have concluded that we cannot seek a stay."

Asked if Demjanjuk, 73, would be taken into custody on his return, Reno said, "We will address all those issues as they arise."

While not pursuing a high court appeal of the order keeping him out of the country, Reno said, "We will continue to do everything possible to uphold the court orders denaturalizing and deporting Mr. Demjanjuk."

Reno's decision was somewhat surprising, because the Justice Department's original appeal of the 6th Circuit panel's ruling argued that the department would have to break the law to allow Demjanjuk to return to the United States.

But Ed Nishnik, Demjanjuk's son-in-law and head of the John Demjanjuk Defense Fund, praised the decision as "well thought out."

"I think it was in the Justice Department's best interest to take this approach," he said from Austin, Texas, where he was meeting with his father-in-law's attorneys.

Demjanjuk's son, John Demjanjuk Jr., 27, said from the family's home in suburban Cleveland, "It's a sign they are starting to cut their losses and not waste any more taxpayer money."

Demjanjuk could be freed by Israeli authorities as early as the end of the week if Israeli Chief Justice Meir Shamgar rejects an appeal filed Wednesday by Nazi hunters seeking to retry Demjanjuk.

by CNB