Abducted German doctor stands trial in Paris for 1982 murder

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Abducted German doctor stands trial in Paris for 1982 murder

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A German doctor abducted from his home and taken to France, went on trial in Paris on Tuesday.

29 March,2011 08:32 pm

He was accused of the manslaughter 28 years ago of a 14-year-old girl in Germany. Cardiologist Dieter Krombach, 74, who was seized in October 2009 and dumped just over the border in France is alleged to have killed 14-year-old Kalinka Bamberskistepdaughterguther, in 1982.A French court found Krombach guilty in his absence for the crime and sentenced him to 15 years in jail. At the time, Krombach was living in Bavaria, where several investigations by German authorities cleared him of any wrongdoing.The prosecution alleges that Krombach killed Bamberski while she was on vacation at his property in Germany with her mother, Krombachs wife, by injecting her with iron compounds. Extradition requests to France were denied as the German authorities had cleared him.The case remained dormant until October 2009, when Krombach turned up bound and gagged just over the border in eastern France. Bamberski’s lawyer, Laurent de Caunes told reporters: For him its a relief. Its what hes always sought -- that Krombach be tried is an act that needed to be accomplished and French justice will finally accomplish it.Bamberski faces separate kidnapping charges for the abduction. Several French courts have ruled that although Krombach may have been brought to France illegally, he should nonetheless face justice in France. But Krombachs counsel was furious that his client should be up in front of the judges in France and demanded the case be brought in front of the European Court of Human Rights.Bamberski has repeatedly claimed that German authorities accepted to cover up Krombachs misdeeds because he was involved with that countrys secret services. Krombach having already been convicted under French law, the court will now have to rule whether to uphold or reject the guilty verdict handed down in his absence in 1995.