JURIST - Paper Chase: Sixth Circuit dismisses posthumous citizenship request for convicted Nazi guard

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Wednesday refused to reconsider a decision to deny a posthumous appeal [JURIST report] to restore the citizenship of convicted Nazi guard John Demjanjuk [JURIST news archive]. Demjanjuk, a retired Ohio autoworker convicted of being an accessory to over 28,000 murders as a guard at a Nazi extermination camp, passed away in March [JURIST report] leaving his wife to assume the role of petitioner in his appeal. The appeals panel let stand the June decision [opinion, PDF] which found that following Demjanjuk's death there was no longer any effective remedy the court could issue.

Demjanjuk was convicted in a German Court [JURIST report] in May 2011 and sentenced to five years in prison, but he was released to a nursing home due to his age and deteriorating health. In May 2010, a German judge denied a motion to dismiss [JURIST report] the charges due to lack of evidence. He was found fit to stand trial [JURIST report] in that court in October 2009 against allegations by Demjanjuk and his family that he was too old and sick to go through a trial. He was deported to Germany [JURIST report] from the S in May 2009 after the US Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal of a 2005 deportation order [JURST reports] by a US Chief Immigration Judge.