The Austrian Parliamentary Committee for Justice Affairs complied this weekend with appeals from survivors of the Nazi era in Austria by extending the statute of limitations for prosecution of Nazi war crimes.
The date for prosecution of crimes committed under the Nazi regime has been changed to June 29, 1965, which means that the period in which charges may be filed will not end before June 1965.
Meanwhile, the Austrian Supreme Court was expected today to take up for consideration soon an appeal to nullify the recent acquittal by a Graz court of Franz Murer, the former Nazi charged with the murder of many Jews in Nazi-occupied Vilna during the war. The appeal for a new trial was based on the fact that the Graz court rejected charges of the prosecution because witnesses who could have testified in support of the charges failed to arrive in time to appear at the trial.
A protest against Murer’s acquittal was voiced today by the Federation of Socialist Freedom Fighters, which also criticized the failure of the court to take action against spectators who lauded the defendant during the trial.
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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.
