CANADIAN police on Wednesday arrested a 78-year-old man under an extradition request from Italy, which convicted him in absentia for World War II crimes, including torture and murder.
Michael Seifert, or Misha Seifert, a former Nazi corporal who has lived in British Columbia since 1951, was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Italian court in November 2000.
”Seifert was arrested in Vancouver without incident and taken to Vancouver city police cells for processing,” said a brief Royal Canadian Mounted Police statement.
The Italian court had ordered Seifert to pay 100 million lire (currently worth $46 800) to an Italian partisan association and the national association of World War II deportees.
He was charged with 18 counts of murder and acts of torture committed between June 1944 and April 1945 at a Nazi camp set up in the city of Bolzano during the occupation of northern Italy by German troops.
Some 11 000 Jews, political prisoners, partisans and army deserters were held at the camp at some point before being taken elsewhere.
The Canadian Jewish Congress welcomed news of the arrest, commending the RCMP, the War Crimes Unit of the Canadian Department of Justice and the Italian authorities for pursuing justice.
”Canada must not be perceived as, a safe haven for those who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, from the Second World War or more contemporary conflicts,” it said. – Sapa-AFP