4 Jul 2009

Demjanjuk pronounced fit to stand trial

3:28 pm on 4 July 2009

Accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk has been deemed fit enough by medical experts in Germany to stand trial.

The 89-year-old has been held in a jail near Munich since 12 May after being deported to Germany from the United States.

His trial is expected to be Germany's final major Nazi-era war crimes case.

The Munich state prosecutor's office said, after examining Mr Demjanjuk, medical experts placed only one condition on their approval for the trial to proceed - that court appearances be limited to two 90-minute sessions a day.

John Demjanjuk denies accusations that he was a guard at the Sobibor death camp, in what is now Poland, and an accessory to the murder of 29,000 Jews.

Charges are expected to be laid in July.