"Nine elderly Germans have been sentenced to life imprisonment for Nazi massacres of hundreds of people in the north of Italy in 1944. The convicted men were part of the 'Hermann Goehring' division. The convicted men were part of the "Hermann Goehring" division which had tried to break the back of the Italian resistance and indiscriminately slaughtered civilians, including 140 in the Modena region alone, they said. The sentences were also for massacres carried out in other parts of the Emilia Romagna region and near Arezzo in Tuscany." Nine elderly Germans sentenced in Italy for Nazi massacres - Telegraph
Soooooo let me get this straight......... They were convicted of war crimes, but Germany refuses to extradite them? Wow, what the hell!?
From the article linked above: It wouldn't be the first time a government refused to extradite one (or more) of their citizens convicted in another country. In this case, given their advanced ages, it may have not seemed practical to the Germans to extradite a bunch of old men who were likely to pass away before the paperwork was completed. I'm not necessarily agreeing with that sentiment, just looking for a rational explanation.
AFAIK Germany position is that these sort of trials are a blatant case of "winners justice " as similar or worse episodes from the winners side are sistematically ignored. IIRC some men convicted by Italian courts and imprisoned are officially POWs for the Germans and still draw their miltary pay. Must say I don't completely disagree with their position, IMO staging these trials "in absentia" after 65 years is a waste of taxpayer money and bears little relation to justice.
Well said TOS! I can´t make out any sense in sticking them into jail for some months, more a a phrase than real justice. Also is there no need to make a trial in absentia. So that is the same thing that the brown idiots made more than 70 years ago. I hate warcrimes and the men which are responsible for it, but this makes no really sense to me!
I dislike "trials in absentia" - the defendant must always be present in my view. But at the same time a crime is a crime and justice should be the same whether you are rich, poor, young or extremely old. The cost of the court case should be irrelevant. It may be too late now for WW2 but I rather like Mandela's truth and reconciliation trials. If this were done in the above case, what excuse would any reasonable Government have for not extraditing their citizens.
