December 20, 2005
The 88-year-old Slovak-born Ladislav Niznansky, charged with war crimes in Slovakia during World War II, has been acquitted of all charges by a court in Munich. Niznansky had been accused of having participated in massacres against villagers and the killing of Jewish refugees in central Slovakia. According to the prosecution, Niznansky, commander of the Slovak part of the German "Edelweiss" unit, ordered the killing of all inhabitants of Ostry Grun and Klak in January 1945 because of their alleged support to partisans. A total of 146 civilians, including women, elderly people and children, were murdered in these villages. However, the judge cited contradictory evidence from witnesses as one reason for the acquittal, noting that some withdrew testimony given when Niznansky was convicted in absentia by communist Czechoslovakia in 1962. Prosecutors had leaned heavily on evidence from that trial, but several witnesses sought out by the court this time either contradicted or withdrew their previous testimony. The court said evidence from the 1962 trial was suspect because Communist-era documents show officials had planned it "from start to finish." "A judgment cannot be based on this," Götzl said. The prosecution had demanded life sentence for Niznansky and said it would appeal the ruling.
