Hungarian prosecutors charge 98-year-old man of Nazi crimesJune 18, 2013 - 14:41 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Hungarian prosecutors have charged a 98-year-old man, Laszlo Csatary, with participation in Nazi war crimes, BBC News reported. He is under arrest in Hungary, accused of assisting in the murder of 15,700 Jews during World War II. He denies the allegations. In 1944 he was serving in the Nazi police in Kosice, now in Slovakia. The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center says Csatary oversaw deportations of Jews to the Auschwitz death camp. The indictment accuses Csatary of torturing and murdering Jews - partly as a culprit, partly as an accomplice. It says he was the chief of an internment camp for Jews in Kosice, and that he beat them with his bare hands and a dog whip. "With his actions, Laszlo Csatary... deliberately provided help to the unlawful executions and torture committed against Jews deported to concentration camps... from Kosice," the prosecutors' statement said. His trial is expected to start within three months. Csatary insists that he was merely an intermediary between Hungarian and German officials in Kosice and that he was not involved in war crimes. Kosice - called Kassa at the time - was the site of the first Jewish ghetto established on Hungarian territory, following the German occupation of the country in 1944. In 1948, a Czechoslovakian court condemned Csatary to death, in absentia, for torturing Jews. Csatary fled to Canada after the war, where he worked as an art dealer in Montreal and Toronto. He disappeared in 1997 after being stripped of his Canadian citizenship. He was in 2012 named by the Simon Wiesenthal Center as its most wanted suspect. He was tracked down in Budapest by reporters from the UK's Sun newspaper in July 2012, with help from the Simon Wiesenthal Center. He was put under house arrest. He has also been charged in Slovakia. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |