Asner and his wife in 2008
Photo courtesy of The Sun
Wanted Nazi war criminal dies in Austria
Milivoj Asner accused of being involved in the deportation of hundreds of Jews, Serbs and gypsies to Nazi concentration camps as head of Croatian police during World War II. For years he managed to avoid extradition to his country, escape trial
Milivoj Asner,
a Croatian accused of being a Nazi war criminal, who had managed to avoid extradition to his country for trial, died on June 14, according to an Austrian retirement home where he lived.
Asner, 98, who was on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's most wanted list for actively participating in the deportation of hundreds of Serbs, Jews and gypsies to Nazi concentration camps during the World War II as head of the Croatian police
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The news of his death, first reported Monday morning by a local newspaper, was confirmed by Viktor Omelko, director of Caritas, which administers the retirement home in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, where Asner lived since 2006, a year after being forced to Austria after being located by the Wiesenthal Center.
The Austrian authorities refused to extradite him several times on the basis of medical reports indicating that he suffered from dementia and was unfit to be questioned.
A photo showing him visibly relaxed with his wife on a terrace, in the company of football fans during the European Football Championship, caused a scandal after it was published by British newspaper The Sun.
In a statement, the Simon Wiesenthal Center slammed "the complete failure of the Austrian judicial authorities to deal adequately with Nazi criminals," stressing that Asner's responsibility was "absolutely clear".
"On this occasion, it is important to reiterate the fundamental role of the political will to bring the perpetrators of the Holocaust to justice," the Wiesenthal center said, calling on the world "to urgently make a final effort to bring these murderers to justice before it's too late."
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