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| |  | | Adolf Eichmann | | | context : | Nazi Germany  | | judgement place : | Israel | | status : | Sentenced | | particulars : | Condemned to death and executed by hanging on 31 May 1962 | | position : | High-ranking officer in the Nazi regime |
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| | | | Adolf Eichmann was arrested in Argentina on 11 May 1960 by the Mossad (Israeli secret service) and transferred by force to Israel to be judged by a court.
The trial was opened on 11 April 1961 in Jerusalem.
The indictment against him contained 15 counts. They were divided in 4 groups:
- crimes against the Jewish people (count 1-4)
- crimes against humanity (5-7, 9-12)
- war crimes (8)
- belonging to a hostile organisation (13-15).
Eichmann based his defence primarily on the incompetence of the tribunal to judge him, arguing that the legal base of the prosecution was created after the alleged crimes were committed. Secondly, he argued that Israel was exercising inadmissible extraterritorial authority, considering that the accused himself was Austrian, the alleged facts were committed in Germany and the arrest took place in Argentina. Therefore, he argued, Israel had no jurisdiction in his case. Finally, he resorted to the notions “crimes of the state” and “superior orders” to deny his individual responsibility. He tried to hide behind Hitler as head of state and of the Nazi government.
To establish its jurisdiction, the Jerusalem district court based its argument on the universal character of the crimes Eichmann had been accused of. Thus, it was able to exercise jurisdiction regardless of the place the crimes were committed, or the nationality of the accused or the victims, or the place of the arrest.
The Jerusalem district court came to the conclusion that Eichmann had been an important link in determining and executing the Final Solution, taking into account that he had been present at every stage of its development.
On 15 December 1961, the Jerusalem district court found Eichmann guilty on all counts and sentenced him to death.
The Supreme Court rejected his appeal on 29 May 1962.
Eichmann was executed by hanging on 31 May 1962, a few minutes before midnight. | |     click for more... | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Austria | | | date of birth : | | | 19.03.1906 | | | period of charges : | | | 03.1938 - 05.1945 | | | judgement period : | | | 11.04.1961 - 29.05.1962 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
Genocide
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 18.03.2010 |
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