Updated

A 77-year-old German doctor has gone back on trial in France over the death of his 15-year-old stepdaughter, following a decades-long cross-border battle for justice by the girl's biological father.

Dieter Krombach was convicted last year and sentenced to 15 years in prison for "intentional violence that led to unintentional death." He appealed the conviction and the appeal opened Tuesday.

His stepdaughter Kalinka died in 1982. Kalinka's father, Andre Bamberski, believed the doctor gave her a dangerous injection so he could rape her.

Bamberski spent years trying to get Krombach extradited and brought to justice. In 2009, on Bamberski's orders, Krombach was kidnapped and left tied up near a French courthouse.

Krombach's lawyer Philippe Ohayon said Tuesday that Krombach is innocent and the case should go to a Europe-wide court.