Concerns about the fairness of a Soviet court trial of an accused war criminal prompted Amnesty International to ask Attorney General Edwin Meese to prevent the deportation of Karl Linnas unless Linnas can be guaranteed a fair trial.
Josh Sugarmann, a spokesperson for Amnesty International, the Nobel Prize-winning human rights group based in London, confirmed that its executive director, John Healy, sent a letter to Meese expressing the organization’s “grave doubts” about the fairness of a Soviet trial. The text of the letter dated June 27 was not made public.
Linnas, 66, of Greenlawn, Long Island, is being held in a federal prison in Manhattan and is facing a death sentence from the Soviet Union for war crimes committed while a concentration camp commander in his native Estonia.
Linnas was stripped of his U.S. citizenship in 1981 by U.S. District Court Judge Jacob Mishler, who found him guilty in participating in the death of Jews and Communists at the concentration camp. He was ordered deported in 1984 and lost his appeal in May before a three member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals. His attorneys have until July 31 to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
Sugarmann said Amnesty International became aware of information which suggests that Linnas was not given a fair trail in 1962 when he was sentenced to death in absentia for his war crimes.
According to Sugarmann, an account of the court order suggests that Linnas was sentenced before his actual trial took place. Linnas was sentenced on December 7, 1961 but he was actually tried in January 1962, Sugarmann said.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S RATIONALE
This information came to light from an article written about the sentencing by correspondent G. Grigoryev in Socialist Legality, the official organ of the USSR Procuracy. The article appeared on December 7, 1961, and according to Sugarmann, it was obtained through the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington.
“To our knowledge, it is authentic,” said Sugarmann in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. In addition, he said the Amnesty International has learned that since 1979, 40 persons have been sentenced to death after being convicted of crimes during World War II. He said eight have been executed, while the status of the remaining 32 persons remains uncertain.
“Amnesty International has grave doubts about the fairness of these trials,” he said. “We believe that for individuals who used torture… there should be no safe haven. But everyone charged with political crimes should be given a fair trial.”
Sugarmann added that Amnesty International is requiring that Meese not consider granting the Soviet request for Linnas until the following criteria are met: that he be tried in public in view of the international media and that his family be allowed to attend; that he be allowed to select his own defense attorney and that witnesses be allowed to testify on his behalf; that he be granted the right of appeal; and that he not be sentenced to death.
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