CONVICTED NAZI COLLABORATOR DAILIDE ESCAPES PRISON

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000536 SIPDIS JUSTICE FOR OSI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL KAWC LH SUBJECT: CONVICTED NAZI COLLABORATOR DAILIDE ESCAPES PRISON TIME AGAIN ¶1. On July 4, the Lithuanian Court of Appeals upheld the Vilnius District Court ruling of March 2006 that convicted but did not punish Algimantas Mykolas Dailide. Dailide had been found guilty of unlawful treatment of civilians during wartime but the judge ruled that he did not have to serve time in prison, based on his poor health and the fact that he no longer posed a threat to society. The decision was appealed by both sides -- the Prosecutor wanted enforcement of a prison sentence, the defendant wanted an outright acquittal. Each side suggested to the media on July 4 that it was contemplating further appeal to the Supreme Court, but neither side announced if it would pursue one. ¶2. Dailide worked for the Nazi-controlled Lithuanian Security Police (Saugumas) from 1941-44. He moved to the United States in 1950, claiming on immigration documents that he had been a forester during the war years. A U.S. court revoked his citizenship in 1997. He left the United States in January 2004 for his wife's native Germany, where he still lives, while his appeals against deportation were pending. DOJ's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) shared detailed evidence with the GOL and had extensive communications about the case with Lithuanian prosecutors, including a week long training session on war crime investigations in January 2000 that used the Dailide case as a model. CLOUD