ADELAIDE, Australia -- A bid to prosecute a second Australian for European war crimes during World War II failed Wednesday when a court ruled there was no case against the charged man.
Mikolay Berezowsky, a 78 year-old pensioner, wept as he shook hands with his defense lawyers after Magistrate David Gurry refused to commit him for trial following a preliminary hearing lasting five weeks.
He was charged with knowingly being involved in the wilful killings of 102 Jews from the Ukrainian village of Gnivan between March and July of 1942.
The prosecution had claimed Berezowsky as leader of the local Schutzmannschaft (local police recruited by occupying Nazi forces) took part in the roundup of Jewish elderly adults and children who were later shot and buried in a pit outside the village.
Although evidence was given that Berezowsky was part of the column seen heading for the pit, there was no evidence to directly link him with the actual executions.
Defense lawyer Michael Davis said the prosecution had proved that Berezowsky was a member of the Schutzmannschaft and had 'generally collaborated' with the Germans and escaped with them when they retreated from Gnivan.
But there was no evidence to suggest he had been involved in the killings and evidence from witnesses who claimed to have seen him in the roundup were self-contradictory, he said.
The finding was a victory for the defense team which is representing all three elderly men charged under Australian war crimes legislation.
The first, Ivan Polyukhovich, 75, has been committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court after a lengthy preliminary hearing of similar charges relating to the mass murder of Jews in another Ukrainian village, Serniki, and the third Heinrich Wagner is expected to face criminal charges later this year, officials said.
All three were charged by officers from the Special Investigation Unit, a multi-million dollar operation set up by the federal government to investigate claims that European war criminals sought refuge in Australia after World War II.
The trials have drawn criticism that they are a waste of public money, serve no useful purpose so long after the alleged events and that they are directed more by revenge than in the interests of justice.
