West Germany’s new legislation, prolonging the statute of limitations for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals until the end of 1969, was published in the Government’s Official Gazette here today, and becomes law tomorrow. It was signed by President Heinrich Luebke last week, after passing both houses of Parliament which agreed on extending the statute from the old cut-off date of May 8, 1965, by about four and a half years.
Meanwhile, today, the legal committee of the Bundestag, lower house of Parliament, was discussing a proposal by several members of the house that would differentiate between “major” and “minor” war criminals. Should this amendment be adopted, prosecutors could decide whether any accused was in one category or another–dropping prosecution against those accused Nazi war criminals deemed to have committed “minor” offenses.
Some members of Parliament, and many organizations in this country and abroad have complained that, under such a formula, a virtual amnesty would be given to the vast majority of Nazi war criminals. Many protests have also been received against setting the new statute of limitations date at the end of 1969, instead of letting it run longer or having no cut-off date whatever for the prosecution of Nazi criminals.
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