**The lawyer of alleged Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk has called for his client’s trial to be abandoned on the grounds of poor health.**On the trial’s second day, Ulrich Busch complained that Mr Demjanjuk had been forcibly deported from the US despite, he said, having a terminal illness.
Mr Demjanjuk, 89, denies helping to murder 27,900 Jews at the Sobibor camp.
Mr Busch said he was being tried for the same crimes twice, after Israel cleared him of murder at another camp.
Germany’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the current charges are different from those he was tried over two decades ago.
Doctors have asked that daily hearings be limited to two 90-minute sessions, but say Mr Demjanjuk’s vital signs are normal.
On Monday the Ukraine-born accused, who was extradited to Germany from the US in May, appeared twice in court, returning on Tuesday to hear the indictment against him.
‘Ivan the Terrible’
This is the second time John Demjanjuk has appeared in court.
DEMJANJUK - PROSECUTION CHALLENGES
- 89 years old, health failing
- Described by prosecution as low-ranking guard
- No death camp survivors to testify against him personally
- Prosecutors relying heavily on about 30 joint plaintiffs and circumstantial evidence
Escaping death camp life of ‘hell’
Two decades ago, he was sentenced to death in Israel, convicted of being Ivan the Terrible, a notoriously sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp.
But that ruling was overturned after new evidence showed that another Ukrainian was probably responsible.
The trial is expected to last until May and, if found guilty, Mr Demjanjuk could be sentenced to 15 years in jail.
If he is acquitted it is not clear where he will go as he has been stripped of his US citizenship.