Nazi suspect arrested in Australia

Mr Kalejs has been deported from the UK, USA and Canada

Police in Australia have arrested a man charged in Latvia with genocide and war crimes during World War II.

The 87-year-old man, Konrad Kalejs, is alleged to have been a guard at a Nazi concentration camp in Latvia where thousands of Jewish, Romany and Slav prisoners were executed or died of starvation. He has denied the charges.

There will undoubtedly be a long process of appeals and the issue may be decided by biology

Latvian human rights lawyer Nils Muzieneks

His arrest followed a formal extradition request on Wednesday from Latvia, where he was charged six weeks ago.

Mr Kalejs has been released on bail and will now face extradition proceedings which could take several months.

He lived in the United Kingdom at the beginning of this year but left for Australia under threat of deportation. He has been an Australian citizen since 1957.

Appeal

A spokesman for the Australian Justice Ministry told the Reuters news agency that Mr Kalejs would appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on 25 January.

Konrad Kalejs would be the first person prosecuted for Nazi war crimes in Latvia

He is likely to indicate then whether he will appeal against the extradition, the spokesman added.

Prosecutors in Latvia warned that the appeals would take time.

"There will undoubtedly be a long process of appeals and the issue may be decided by biology," human rights lawyer Nils Muzieneks said.

The passage of time since Kalejs committed his crimes in no way diminishes their horror or his culpability

Simon Weisenthal Centre Israel director Efraim Zuroff

Lawyers for Mr Kalejs argue that he is too sick to stand trial and the charges against him are insufficient.

Mr Kalejs has admitted that he was a member of the Arajs Kommando, a Nazi hit squad believed to be responsible for 30,000 deaths.

But he says that he only fought against Russia on the eastern front or was studying at university when killings of Jews took place in 1941.

First 'Nazi'

Nazi hunters praised the extradition decision as "long overdue" but urged the Latvian authorities to ensure there was no delay in the proceedings.

"The passage of time since Kalejs committed his crimes in no way diminishes their horror or his culpability," a statement by the Simon Weisenthal Centre.

Latvia vowed to prosecute alleged agents of Nazi and Soviet crimes after it regained its independence in 1991.

But while nearly a dozen men have been indicted or convicted for Stalinist-era crimes, no alleged Nazis have been tried.

Of the 70,000 Jews living in Latvia at the start of World War II, 95% were murdered during the German occupation.