14 June 2007
In Italy, a court ruling that the 93-year-old Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke may leave his house arrest every day to work has led to widespread condemnation. The former SS captain Priebke was jailed for life by a military court for the massacre of 335 men and boys at the Ardeatine Caves near Rome during World War II. The killings were a reprisal for partisan attacks on Germans. Priebke was extradited to Italy in 1995 from Argentina, where he fled after the war.
Priebke is being allowed to serve his time under house arrest for health reasons - in a Rome apartment lent by a lawyer who campaigned for his freedom. A military court ruled he can also work at the office of the lawyer, who told reporters that Priebke would begin work next Monday using his knowledge of German, Spanish, English and French to do translations and work as a clerk. The ruling lets him go to the office ‘every day, freely’ and ‘go out to satisfy, at nearby places and for the time strictly necessary, the indispensable necessities of life’ meaning he can go out for lunch.
Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni reacted by expressing his solidarity with "all the victims of Nazi fascist barbarianism, their families and the Jewish community". "Rome cannot forget," he said. The president of Rome's Jewish community, Leone Paserman, questioned why military tribunals believed Priebke was too old to be kept in a prison, but not too old to work. "They should abolish life sentences if not even those who have committed crimes against humanity have to serve them," he said. Lawyer Paolo Giachini, who has given Priebke a home and a job, defended the decision to grant him privileges. He told the Reuters news agency: "All prisoners are equal and they deserve to be treated equally. We live in a state of law".
