89-year-old Nazi suspect charged with helping to kill 27,900

13 Jul, 2009 16:13 / Updated 15 years ago

German prosecutors have formally charged a suspected Nazi war criminal with nearly 28,000 counts of accessory to murder.

Although the court in Munich announced the charges, it has yet to confirm when the trial of Ivan Demjanjuk will begin, Der Spiegel reported.

Ten days ago the man was pronounced fit to stand trial for "complicity to murder."

The 89-year-old Demjanjuk is accused of being a sadistic guard known as “Ivan the Terrible” at the Sobibor concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. But Demjanjuk, a native of Ukraine, says he was captured by the Germans and kept as a prisoner of war.

Prosecutors, however, said among evidence they have is his Nazi identity card.

The trial is likely to begin this autumn.

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