Accused Nazi war Criminal frees by Hungary Court

A Hungarian 97 years old man who once topped the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's (SWC) list as most wanted Nazi criminals walked free from a Budapest municipal court after being cleared of ordering the execution of more than 30 Jews and Serbs in 1942. Serbian Jews on Monday had an appeal over Sandor Kepiro exoneration but it is unknown what action the prosecution will take. Frenkel told the AFP news agency that the centre would continue its fight to have Kepiro convicted and would push for an appeal to the ruling. Kepiro, who appeared in court on Monday, said in a last statement before the verdict was read out: "I am innocent, I never killed, I never robbed". He was allowed to leave the court shortly thereafter, and was returned to the hospital where he has been kept for a week after receiving unsuitable medication. The one-time Hungarian gendarmerie captain faced a life sentence for his alleged participation in a raid by Hungarian forces in Novi Sad, now in Serbia, on January 21-23, 1942, in which more than 1,200 Jews and Serbs were murdered. Specifically, he was accused of ordering the round-up and execution of 36 Jews and Serbs as head of one of the patrols involved in the raid.