Dr. Robert Servatius of Cologne, who will serve as defense counsel for Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi extermination specialist, arrived here last night. He told reporters at Lydda airport that while he had “full confidence” in Israeli courts, he would have “preferred an international court to try my client.”
The West German attorney, who was engaged by Eichmann’s brother, will remain in Israel about two weeks in connection with his preparation of his defense for the Eichmann trial which is tentatively scheduled to get underway next March.
Dr. Servatius said he had brought a letter from Eichmann’s brother but that he did not know whether he would be permitted to give the letter to Eichmann. The attorney will meet the Nazi in a specially constructed transparent-walled booth which will enable the two men to speak privately but in full view of guards.
Members of a special plainclothes police detachment organized to protect the Cologne attorney filled the airport and escorted him to Tel Aviv where he spent the night. He was scheduled to go to Jerusalem today to meet Attorney General Gideon Hausner and Justice Minister Pinhas Rosen.
The attorney, remarking he could not comment on any legal aspects of the Eichmann trial before he met Eichmann and obtained material for the defense preparations, observed however that the Nuremberg trial results would have some part in the Nazi’s trial.
Dr. Servatius was accompanied by a high-ranking police officer when he met reporters at the airport. He told them, in regard to the charges against Eichmann that “All we know now is reports and stories. The court will have to find out the facts and as a result of these come to a judgment. All I am interested in is the truth.”
He also said he would like the cooperation of an Israeli attorney, particularly to help him in dealing with local legal procedures. Replying to a question as to whether he would challenge the competence of an Israeli court to try Eichmann, he said there would be many legal questions that would be raised.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
