Word: waldheim
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...imitation-marble columns gave the courtroom a properly sober atmosphere. At precisely 2 p.m. last Wednesday, five black-robed judges walked slowly to the podium and brought the proceedings to order. The prosecutor's opening statement set forth an explosive agenda: the alleged complicity of Austrian President Kurt Waldheim in Nazi war crimes during World War II. "I do not represent that his is the hand that holds the smoking pistol," said the attorney. "War crimes were committed by those men whom Waldheim served. But there will be no doubt, I submit, in your minds that Waldheim did more than...
Thus began what is intended to be the most thorough inquiry so far into Waldheim's wartime record. Yet the "trial" is taking place not in a court but in a TV studio outside London. The defendant will not be present, and the judges' verdict will have no legal standing. The bulk of the proceedings, moreover, are being kept secret until they are shown on television -- edited down to a 3 1/2-hour program that will air June 5 in the U.S. on HBO, as well as in Britain and nearly 30 other countries, but not Austria...
...unusual media event may clear up -- or simply add to -- the controversy surrounding Waldheim's past. But it has already sparked a debate over the propriety of TV's donning judicial robes in an attempt to resolve a matter of & international concern. TV has staged mock trials of historical figures, but never before has it focused on a living person -- one, moreover, who has not been charged with a crime...
Abroad, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered a re-examination of possible links between Waldheim and the 1944 execution of six British commandos in Greece. In Jerusalem the Israeli Knesset called for Waldheim's resignation or impeachment in light of the panel's report...
...pressure on Waldheim is likely to grow as Austria prepares for next month's 50th anniversary of its annexation by Hitler's Third Reich. Says Secretary of State for Women's Affairs Johanna Dohnal, a Socialist leader: "Anything that will free us from the present position will be welcome as a solution. Anything would be better than what we have now." In ever increasing numbers, Austrians are starting to agree...