AACHEN, Germany – Lawyers for a man accused of murdering Dutch civilians while part of a Waffen SS hit squad says his trial constitutes double jeopardy under a new EU charter and should be halted.
Lawyers for 88-year-old Heinrich Boere petitioned the Aachen state court to stop the proceeding, arguing that it attempted to try the man for essentially the same crimes for which a court in the Netherlands convicted him in absentia in 1949.
He was initially handed a death sentence that was later commuted to life imprisonment, but has managed to avoid jail so far.
Boere faces charges of killing a bicycle-shop owner, a pharmacist and another civilian while serving in an SS unit.
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