BELARUS: BRITISH JURY IN WAR CRIMES TRIAL HISTORY скачать в хорошем качестве

BELARUS: BRITISH JURY IN WAR CRIMES TRIAL HISTORY

(16 Feb 1999) English/Nat A British jury is making legal history in an unprecedented journey back to an area that witnesses some of the most harrowing scenes of the Holocaust. In Britain's first Nazi war crimes trial, a 77 year old man is charged with killings that took place in Western Belarus in 1942. Jurors, a trial judge and court officials have been sent there from Britain to view the evidence for themselves. The jury and officials from the court crossed the Belarus border under police escort, setting up operations in the western town of Brest. They then traveled to the town of Domachevo to view the terrible evidence. Anthony Sawoniuk, a retired rail ticket collector from London, is charged with four counts of murder carried out during the Holocaust. The prosecution says he was one of the first volunteers for Domachevo's Nazi police force in the summer of 1941. Sawoniuk is said to not only to have carried out Jewish executions on command but did so with enthusiasm. Before the war the town of Domachevo had a large Jewish population -- the majority of which were virtually annihilated during the Nazi campaign. Jewish men, women and even children were machine-gunned into mass graves later uncovered after the war. Sawoniuk is said to have rose swiftly up the ranks of his Nazi commanders -- eventually promoted to Commandant where he served for more than 3 years. He fled with the Nazis when Soviet troops finally approached Domachevo in 1944. Sawoniuk denies all charges. In this fascinating case the jurors are not only brought to the scene of the crime but also provided with a full history of the Holocaust as well as Belarussia's role in World War II. SOUNDBITE: (English) "This is a unique case because this is a first war crime trial in Britain and it is also the first time the jury ever left the jurisdiction of Great Britain to view the evidence." SUPERCAPTION: Mike Wicksteed, press-officer for the Central Criminal Court of Great Britain The jurors' journey into the past is designed to produce a fair and just verdict in the Sawoniuk case. One witness says he saw Sawoniuk murdering 15 naked Jewish women with a sub-machine gun. The unusual court case, which will be heard back in the U-K, aims to determine if Sawoniuk was indeed one of thousands of individuals guilty of war crimes. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...