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BERLIN – An 88-year-old German man considered one of the most prominent Nazi war crimes suspects alive won't be extradited to the Netherlands and can continue to live in freedom, German officials said Wednesday.
Klaas Carel Faber was convicted in 1947 of complicity in 22 murders and for aiding the Netherlands' Nazi occupiers during World War II. He was handed a death sentence that was later commuted to life in prison, according to Dutch prosecutors. But in 1952 he escaped and fled to Germany where he has lived in freedom ever since despite several attempts to try or extradite him.
The latest, and presumably last, attempt failed this week, "basically putting an end to the case," Munich prosecutor Alfons Obermeier said.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center last year elevated Faber to No. 3 on its "most wanted" list as other suspects had passed away.
"This is outrageous. There is no ambiguity: This the worst possible decision, which only helps a convicted multiple murder to escape justice," said the center's chief Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff.
Faber objected to being extradited, and the Dutch request cannot be granted as his consent is mandatory due to his German citizenship, Ingolstadt court spokesman Jochen Boesl said.
Obermeier added that, if the Netherlands asked for Faber to serve his sentence in Germany, that also could not be granted because of earlier court rulings.
The prosecutor's office reviewed Faber's case in August at the request of German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, but concluded he could not be prosecuted without new evidence.
Klaas Carel Faber was convicted in 1947 of complicity in 22 murders and for aiding the Netherlands' Nazi occupiers during World War II. He was handed a death sentence that was later commuted to life in prison, according to Dutch prosecutors. But in 1952 he escaped and fled to Germany where he has lived in freedom ever since despite several attempts to try or extradite him.
The latest, and presumably last, attempt failed this week, "basically putting an end to the case," Munich prosecutor Alfons Obermeier said.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center last year elevated Faber to No. 3 on its "most wanted" list as other suspects had passed away.
"This is outrageous. There is no ambiguity: This the worst possible decision, which only helps a convicted multiple murder to escape justice," said the center's chief Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff.
Faber objected to being extradited, and the Dutch request cannot be granted as his consent is mandatory due to his German citizenship, Ingolstadt court spokesman Jochen Boesl said.
Obermeier added that, if the Netherlands asked for Faber to serve his sentence in Germany, that also could not be granted because of earlier court rulings.
The prosecutor's office reviewed Faber's case in August at the request of German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, but concluded he could not be prosecuted without new evidence.