Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin assailed the statute of limitations on West German war crimes prosecutions today and accused West German authorities of planning to grant amnesty to Nazi war criminals including many notorious SS and Gestapo men. The Soviet Premier addressed an international conference on the prosecution of war criminals in Moscow. He said the USSR would insist that international agreements for the punishment of Nazi criminals be observed.
The statute of limitations is due to go into effect in West Germany on Dec. 31,1969. It would ban further trials for persons accused of war crimes involving murder. Demands for abolition of the statute have been raised inside and outside of Germany. Abolition is favored by Gustav Heinemann, the newly elected President of the Federal Republic. It was the subject of talks last week between a delegation of Israeli Knesset-members and top West German officials.
Premier Kosygin charged that Bonn’s attitude on the issue stimulated “chauvinistic and neo-Nazi ideas” among the German people. He accused West Germany of trying to relegate to oblivion “the crimes of those who are guilty of the death of millions of people.”
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