Court Frees Ex-Nazi Charged in Massacre

Hours after a military court acquitted former SS Capt. Erich Priebke of the most serious charges in a 52-year-old massacre and ordered him freed, the Italian justice minister said today that police were moving to rearrest him.

The announcement came seven hours after a crowd of angry victims’ relatives and members of the Jewish community blockaded a hallway to prevent Priebke from leaving the courthouse. Violent scuffles broke out between the protesters and police, and at least five officers were injured.

Earlier, Italian authorities had said Priebke could not be rearrested because of the terms of his extradition from Argentina, which bar his being retaken into custody in Italy. But Germany has said it has an arrest warrant for Priebke.

“Judicial police are proceeding toward [Priebke’s] provisional arrest in view of the German request for extradition,” Justice Minister Giovanni Maria Flick said in the courtroom hallway following a meeting with law enforcement officials. He said Priebke would be taken to a nonmilitary prison.

The crowd was unmoved. Many shouted for Priebke to be cuffed.

The announcement followed across-the-board condemnation of the verdict Thursday evening by Italy’s political leaders, including the president and prime minister, who declared it an outrage to the memories of the victims and an embarrassment to Italy.

The military court on Thursday ruled that Priebke was just following orders when he helped massacre 335 Italian civilians in Nazi-occupied Rome.

As the verdicts were read in one of the last trials of a senior Nazi officer, relatives of the victims screamed and wept. A slight smile crossed the 83-year-old Priebke’s face after his lawyer, Velio Di Rezze, leaned over to translate the ruling.

After the verdict, Argentina’s interior minister announced that Priebke would be barred from returning to Argentina, where he lived from 1948. He was extradited to Italy in November.

The Italian Senate declared a moment of silence, Mayor Francesco Rutelli ordered Rome’s monuments darkened and Prime Minister Romano Prodi visited the site of the 1944 massacre south of the capital.

The court found Priebke guilty of taking part in the slayings--he admitted as much during the trial--but the 30-year statute of limitations on the crime has expired. For that reason, the three-judge panel ordered Priebke freed.

The panel acquitted Priebke of the aggravated charges of premeditation and cruelty, which are not subject to a statute of limitations and carry a penalty of life in prison.