It seems likely that West German Free Democrat MP Ernst Achen-bach, a leading figure in blocking German court prosecution of French-convicted Nazis, will give up his key position in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag. This committee is responsible for eventual approval of the 1971 Franco-German treaty making such Nazi convictions possible here.
Free Democrat circles said yesterday they were angry and dismayed at Achenbach’s attitude, particularly after his call for an amnesty for all Nazi criminals. A decision on Achenbach’s future is likely to be made soon after he returns from a trip to Colombia Friday. The Young Free Democrats have again renewed their attack on Achenbach as a “potential Nazi participant” and have urged him to resign from the Bundestag. It is unlikely, however, that Achenbach will be excluded from the party or will lose his parliamentary seat.
Germany’s commissioner in the European Economic Community, Ralf Dahrendorf, yesterday urged Achenbach to resign his seat in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. In another development, the Christian Democrat opposition called for an early discussion of the Franco-German Nazi trials treaty. An opposition spokesman, Gerhard Reddemann, said the FDP should get on with ratification and stop looking for scapegoats.
Meanwhile, the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Justice, Dr. Diether Posser, defended Judge Viktor De Somoskoeoy, who passed a two-month sentence on Beate Klarsfeld in Cologne last week. A statement yesterday said court rulings were naturally open to criticism, but a court had to proceed from the legal situation as it is, and from the principles of a constitutional state.
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