Israel's top judge on Friday held up John Demjanjuk's departure for the fourth time in three weeks, reflecting Israel's reluctance to free a suspected Nazi war criminal even as legal recourses crumble.
Holocaust survivors have been seeking to try Demjanjuk on new war crimes charges after he was acquitted July 29 of being "Ivan the Terrible," a sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp.Two different Supreme Court panels and the attorney general have come out against a new trial, citing the danger of double jeopardy, weak evidence and already lengthy legal proceedings against the retired Ohio auto worker.
The Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk has denied all involvement in war crimes, saying he spent most of World War II in German POW camps after being captured as a Soviet soldier in May 1942.
But on Friday, Supreme Court Chief Justice Meir Shamgar granted the petitioners another two weeks to try to convince the high court it should look at the case again.
Legal experts have said chances of a new trial are remote, but that because of the sensitivity of the case the court was permitting the petitioners to exhaust all legal avenues.
"It is clear that it is going to be a very uphill battle," acknowledged Irwin Cotler, a Canadian attorney.