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CRIME

Accused Nazi killer Demjanjuk’s medical results set for release

Medical test results concerning alleged Nazi-criminal John Demjanjuk’s ability to stand trial are expected to be released this week.

Accused Nazi killer Demjanjuk's medical results set for release
Photo: DPA

“We assume he is at least up for discussion,” senior prosecutor Anton Winkler told German magazine Focus on Monday.

The district attorney’s office in Munich is hoping to indict the 89-year-old, who is accused of aiding in the murder of at least 29,000 Jews.

As a guard in Sobibor in 1943, a Nazi German extermination camp in occupied Poland, Demjanjuk would have led Jews into the gas chamber. Demjanjuk has been jailed in Munich since his deportation from the US eight weeks ago.

“Of course, we have prepared the accusation in essential parts. But we await the medical results and the current statements of the defence,” Winkler told the magazine.

Presently, an appellate court is testing another appeal made by Demjanjuk’s lawyers, who were staunchly rejected on their first attempt.

A native Ukrainian, Demjanjuk had declared Sobibor as his permanent residence on official immigration documents before entering the US. Authorities probably would have overlooked this detail, because the extermination camp would have been then unknown. Later on, Demjanjuk alleged that he had never been in Sobibor.

“He must, of course, be confronted,” Winkler said.

The main evidence for the prosecution is an ID card with the number 1393 apparently belonging to Demjanjuk, showing that he participated in the Schutzstaffel, a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler. They also have a relocation list from March 1943, showing that Demjanjuk was transferred to Sobibor.

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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