Channels

John Demjanjuk
Photo: AP

Press catches Demjanjuk walking

Nazi war criminal's son accuses German newspaper of 'sensationalism' for publishing photos of his father walking outside nursing home

John Demjanjuk's son accused Germany's top-selling Bild newspaper of "sensationalism" on Monday for publishing photos of his father walking outside the Bavarian nursing home where he lives after his release from jail.

 

Demjanjuk was convicted May 12 of 28,060 counts of accessory to murder after a Munich court found he served as a guard at the Nazi's Sobibor death camp.

 

He was sentenced to five years in prison but immediately released pending his appeal, which could take as much as two years, after the court ruled he was not a flight risk.

 

Images of the 91-year-old lying in a bed in the courtroom dominated press coverage of his 18-month trial. Bild's Sunday edition published pictures of Demjanjuk walking, with the headline "The Bad Guy's Miracle Recovery."

 

John Demjanjuk Jr. told The Associated Press in an email, however, that the photographs indicate nothing about his father's medical condition.

 

It's a miracle! Demjanjuk can walk after all (Photo:AFP)

 

Demjanjuk suffers from a number of medical problems, including chronically low hemoglobin levels. More than a dozen trial sessions were canceled so that he could receive blood transfusions and other medical treatment.

 

"It's paparazzi sensationalism and has nothing to do with the legal situation," Demjanjuk Jr. said of the Bild photographs. "Since coming to Germany and before, my father has been able to walk short distances on good days while on other days, he is confined to bed. Nobody has ever said otherwise."

 

A US court "confirmed his medical conditions" two years ago when it ordered him flown "on a private air ambulance under constant medical care when he was deported," he said.

 

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.23.11, 23:27
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment