Nazi war crimes trial considered

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A 76-year-old Londoner could stand trial for Nazi war crimes after being accused by witnesses of taking part in massacres of up to 4,000 Jews in Belarus during the Second World War. John Morris, the Attorney- General, must give his consent to the prosecution of Anthony Sawoniuk, a retired railway worker, by the Crown Prosecution Service, and is expected to agree with a recommendation by Dame Barbara Mills, the Director of Public Prosecutions, that charges should be brought.

Mr Sawoniuk, who lives in east London, has denied allegations that he committed a series of murders of Jews in the Domachevo area, on the Belarus- Polish border, in 1941 and 1942 while deputy commander of police. But after lengthy investigations by the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit, more than two dozen witnesses have told CPS lawyers that they are prepared to travel to Britain to testify against him.