Canada To Hand Over Nazi War Criminal

Former SS Guard Michael Seifert, Now 83, Was Known As The "Beast Of Bolzano"

(AP)  An 83-year-old former SS prison guard who was sentenced to life in jail in Italy for Nazi war crimes was being extradited from Canada to Rome on Friday, officials said.

Michael Seifert was due to arrive Saturday morning on a special military flight from Toronto. He will be transferred to a military prison near Naples to begin serving his sentence, said Bartolomeo Costantini, the military prosecutor who pursued the case.

Seifert, known as the "Beast of Bolzano," was convicted in absentia in 2000 by a military tribunal in Verona on nine counts of murder, committed while he was an SS guard at a prison transit camp in Bolzano, northern Italy.

At his trial, people testified that Seifert starved a 15-year-old prisoner to death, gouged out a person's eyes and tortured a woman before killing her and her daughter.

Seifert, a Canadian citizen of Ukrainian origin, has acknowledged being a guard at the SS-run camp but denies being involved in atrocities.

In 1944 and 1945, the Bolzano camp served as a transit point for Jews, Italian resistance fighters, Italians drafted for factory work and German army deserters who were being shipped north.

Seifert, who has lived in Canada since 1951, had unsuccessfully fought efforts by the Canadian government to strip him of his citizenship based on allegations that he hid his past when he entered the country.

Canada bars former members of the SS and related units such as the Nazi SD because of their involvement in concentration camps and with other war crimes.

Last month Seifert lost a bid to have the Supreme Court of Canada consider his appeal seeking to stop his extradition to Italy, clearing the way for his deportation.

His lawyer, Doug Christie, said Seifert called his wife Thursday night to say he was being escorted from a detention center in Vancouver. "He called her and said he was being taken away," Christie said.

Avi Benlolo, president of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies in Canada, said Seifert needs to face justice in Italy.

"It's critical that this happens," Benlolo said. "It sets an example for other war criminals, not only Nazi war criminals, but war criminals related to Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur or any other genocide, that there's no time limit to justice."

The Italian prosecutor, Costantini, said he planned to question Seifert as a witness to atrocities committed by other guards at the camp.

The former SS officer eventually could be allowed to serve his sentence on house arrest because of his age, Costantini said.

"Given his age, he could ask to be detained at home, if there is someone willing to host him," the prosecutor told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

[libsrweak]

Posted by mcdazz at 02:46 AM : Feb 17, 2008
+ report abuse

*******

so you are one liberal who hates fscists who seems to get agitated when a suggestion of something harder than jailtime is considered for a facist..

Like i said, you guys are weak..you are mentaliy weak..this guy fed off weak minded like you..it took canada that long to get rid of this piece of sh*t because they are weak..

[libsrweak]

How many times was Mr. Seifert found innocent until the "right" judge came along? Interesting!


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Posted by ajayvee at 09:09 AM : Feb 18, 2008
+ report abuse


*************

maybe canada does not have too many liberal judges with balls...too many ''left'' judges I guess.

[ajayvee]

How many times was Mr. Seifert found innocent until the "right" judge came along? Interesting!

[bravo-2-0]

If only Canada was as fervent a proponent of all that is moral, good and wholesome as it is in it''s support for degeneracy, perversion, political and religious oppression as it is in pursuing an ailing octogenarian things would be a lot different.

A Nation which affords registration and web hosting to some of the worst pedophile sites on Earth really has no room to sit in judgment of an Eighty Two year old man accused of unsubstantiated wrong doing over half a century ago on the hearsay of a mere handful of known liars and perjurers.

[bravo-2-0]

If only Canada was as fervent a proponent of all that is moral, good and wholesome as it is in it''s support for degeneracy, perversion, political and religious oppression as it is in pursuing an ailing octogenarian things would be a lot different

A Nation which affords registration and web hosting to some of the worst pedophile sites on Earth such as the infamous ''Girl Chat'' etc, really has no room to sit in judgment of an Eighty Two year old man accused of fictitious wrong doing over half a century ago on the hearsay of a handful of know liars and perjurers.

libsrsissy wrote:

"btw I am not a republican..so that is one more point against the ''''liberaLS''''"

No - you''re just a moron who was able to get connected to the internet.

Fascists are losers - and that includes Republicans.

[zootallures2]

If only Intel could get US tax money via susidies from foreign aid for R&D....

[zootallures2]

It''s not like he''s a Palestinian or Lebanese, just a nazi. Looks like the Italians are more concerned...eh?

[fettkonserv]

"Given his age, he could ask to be detained at home, if there is someone willing to host him," the prosecutor told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Take him out and Hang him, not host him.

[fibonacci_]

libsrweak, I''m a "lib" and I say lock him up forever. You republicans are so simple minded it is a joke. You are just weak in the head - dumb.