SWC Welcomes Indictment of Convicted but Unpunished Hungarian Nazi War Criminal Dr. Sandor Kepiro

*2-15-2011 - Read related New York Times story

Urges Authorities to Expedite Trial to Facilitate Justice

Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today expressed its deep satisfaction that the number one suspect on its list of mostwanted Nazi war criminals, former Hungarian gendarmerie officer Dr. Sandor Kepiro, was officiallycharged with war crimes today in Budapest in connection with his role in the mass murders of hundreds of innocent civilians carried out by Hungarian military and gendarmerie forces in the area ofthe Serbian city of Novi Sad in late January 1942. In a statement issued here today by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, who tracked down Kepiro and in August 2006informed the Hungarian justice authorities that he was residing in Budapest, the Center noted the significance of theindictment and its importance for the victims of Kepiro’s crimes and theirfamilies, as well as for Hungarian and Serbian society.

According to Zuroff:

“My thoughts today are with the people of Novi Sad and their families, the victims of the mass murders carried out by the Hungarian forcesin January 1942. It is they who so deserve that justice finally be achieved in this case, so that they can finally achieve a measure of closure, even if it is many years after the crimes.

The indictment of Kepiro also sends a powerful message that the passage of time does not diminish the guilt of the killers and that old age should not protect those who committed such heinouscrimes. For the past more than four years, I have waited for this news and now we finally can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

For more information, please call 00-972-50-721415, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updatessent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is anNGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).