The Israeli lawyer for convicted Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk on Monday accused Israel and the United States of a "cold-blooded plot" to conceal evidence that could prove his client's innocence.
Yoram Sheftel made the accusation during a stormy 41/2-hour Supreme Court hearing on Demjanjuk's appeal of his conviction and death sentence for operating gas chambers at a Nazi death camp as the guard "Ivan the Terrible."The session broke up without a decision, and another hearing was to be scheduled later.
During the hearing Monday, Sheftel compared the Demjanjuk trial to the Dreyfus Affair, in which a Jewish officer in the French army in the 1890s was convicted on treason charges later found to be false and motivated by anti-Semitism.
"It's no longer the Demjanjuk trial but the Demjanjuk Affair, like the Dreyfus Affair," Sheftel said. "This whole thing is nothing but a plot."
Prosecutor Michael Shaked denied Sheftel's accusation, and the presiding justices accused the defense lawyer of over-dramatizing the 71-year-old Demjanjuk's appeal and using offensive tactics.
Demjanjuk, looking fit, smiled as he entered the court, his hands handcuffed in front of him. He told reporters "I feel good today."