[JURIST] Alleged Nazi Sandor Kepiro died on Saturday at the age of 97, weeks after both the prosecution and the defense in his trial announced they would be be appealing his acquittal on war crimes charges [JURIST reports]. Kepiro was acquitted of participating in the 1942 Novi Sad massacre in Serbia and, ultimately, pleaded his innocence until his death, stating he had refused to shoot during the massacre. Kepiro was convicted both in 1944 and 1946 and sentenced to 10 years for involvement in the raids, but he was released and fled to Argentina. His recent acquittal stemmed from deterioration of evidence. Kepiro and his lawyer appealed so the record would reflect that Kepiro was completely innocent.

Despite the ages of the accused, prosecutions of Nazis continue around the world. Convicted Nazi commander Josef Scheungraber, 93, will likely not serve his life sentence [JURIST reports] due to mental health issues. In May, the trial of accused Nazi guard John Demjanjuk [NNDB profile, JURIST news archive] ended when he was convicted [JURIST report] but released because of his advanced age. An appeal [JURIST report] of his release is pending. In November, Nazi guard Samuel Kunz [Trial Watch profile], 89, passed away [JURIST report] in his home before he could be brought to trial. He was accused of aiding in the killing of hundreds of thousands of Jewish people at the Belzec concentration camp [HRP backgrounder].