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

DATE: MONDAY, September 20, 1993                   TAG: 9309200053
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
DATELINE: JERUSALEM                                LENGTH: Medium

ISRAEL RELEASES DEMJANJUK

The Israeli legal system has washed its hands of John Demjanjuk, the retired Cleveland auto worker once believed to be "Ivan the Terrible," a sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp.

Sunday, 7 1/2 years after Demjanjuk was first brought to Israel to stand trial for Nazi-era war crimes, Israel's Justice Ministry said the order blocking Demjanjuk's departure was canceled.

Israeli Supreme Court Justice Theodore Orr rejected last-ditch appeals by various groups, including Holocaust survivors and Nazi hunters, who argued that even though it now seems certain Demjanjuk is not "Ivan" of Treblinka, he should be retried on evidence that he served as a guard at other death camps.

Orr's ruling means Demjanjuk, 73, is free. He was to remain in his prison cell for at least one more night until his family makes arrangements for him to fly back to the United States.

Sunday's decision ends a massive prosecution that was supposed to teach the lessons of the Holocaust to a new generation of Israelis, but instead turned into a disastrous case of mistaken identity.

After a 18-month trial, during which witness after witness pointed to Demjanjuk and said he was Ivan, the court pronounced Demjanjuk's guilt "unequivocally and without the slightest hesitation." He was sentenced to hang.

But KGB documents that came to light after the collapse of the Soviet Union raised serious doubts about whether Ukraine-born Demjanjuk served at Treblinka.

In July, Israel's Supreme Court overturned the verdict.

Although evidence suggests Demjanjuk served as a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Poland, the Israeli high court recommended against prosecuting Demjanjuk.

by CNB