Australian Trial of Accused Nazi Recesses to Ukraine for Evidence

The trial of accused Nazi war criminal Ivan Polyukhovich has taken a temporary recess so the court can make a trip to Ukraine to hear evidence from a witness there.

At least six people, including Supreme Court Justice Brian Cox, representatives of the defense and prosecution, and interpreters, are making the trip to take evidence from a witness, believed to be Polyukhovich’s first wife.

Videotaped evidence from the trip, believed to cost about $26,000, will be presented to the jury when the officials return.

Polyukhovich has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and participation in a 1942 mass murder that took place in the Ukrainian village of Serniki.

The announcement of the delay in the trial, which is already in its seventh week, prompted the jury foreman to ask how long the defense will take to present its case, explaining that “jurors and their employers wanted to know when they could return to work.”

After first saying that the time needed by the defense to make its arguments was ruled “by factors beyond my control,” senior defense lawyer Michael David predicted it would take another four days to make his case, leading to a mid-May conclusion of the hearing.

Polyukhovich, who migrated to Australia in 1949, has admitted he lived in the Serniki area during World War II. He has been identified as the gun-toting “Ivanechko” by a number of witnesses.

The current events in Bosnia-Herzegovina and reports of “ethnic cleansing” of Moslem populations by Serbians and Croats have prompted renewed calls here for the government to reopen investigations into Nazi war criminals and other individuals residing in Australia who committed crimes against humanity.

A call by the former director of the Special Investigations Unit, Robert Greenwood, to have the government extend the reach of the law and complete outstanding investigations has received growing support in the news media.