Judge Warns Attorney for Demjanjuk : Threatens to Remove Lawyer From Court, Cite Him for Contempt

A judge in the war crimes trial of John Demjanjuk angrily threatened to throw a defense lawyer out of the courtroom today in a series of bitter verbal exchanges.

“We will have to consider charging you with contempt of court,” Chief Judge Dov Levin snapped at lawyer Yoram Sheftel, the only Israeli on Demjanjuk’s defense team. “If you return to this behavior, you’ll find yourself outside.”

Demjanjuk, a retired Cleveland auto worker, is charged with being “Ivan the Terrible,” the sadistic guard who operated the gas chambers at the Nazi death camp of Treblinka in occupied Poland where 850,000 Jews were slaughtered during World War II.

Exchanges between Sheftel and the three-judge panel over the admissibility of evidence and other courtroom procedures have grown increasingly tense since Monday, when Sheftel accused the judges of “unfair hostility” and bias against the defense.

‘Just Part of the Show’

Sheftel demanded that the three Israeli jurists--who will decide Demjanjuk’s fate in the non-jury trial--remove themselves from the case. When they refused, the defense appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, which will review the matter Sunday.

In one exchange today, Sheftel declared the proceedings a “show trial” and the testimony of a West German Nazi war crimes prosecutor “just part of the show” with no relation to charges against Demjanjuk.

When the defense lawyer remarked about the amount of money Israel is spending on the trial--converting a large movie theater into a courtroom especially for the case--Levin threatened to charge him with contempt of court.

“We’re reaching the stage where we will have to consider certain steps,” Levin said angrily. “This behavior is all the more surprising when it comes from the lips of an Israeli attorney.”

Several times, hecklers have been removed from the courtroom for cursing Demjanjuk or calling Sheftel a “Jewish traitor” for defending a suspected Nazi.