German court acquits journalists who secretly filmed former SS man

Feb 9, 2012, 18:35 GMT

Aachen, Germany - Two Dutch journalists who secretly filmed a 90-year-old former SS assassin in a German old people's home were acquitted Thursday on breach-of-privacy charges.

Heinrich Boere began serving a life sentence last year for murdering three people in the Netherlands in 1944. The Nazi occupation suspected them of working for the Dutch resistance and told Boere's assassination squad to liquidate them.

Germany took decades to put Boere on trial despite repeated requests from the Netherlands and media reports about him.

A court in Eschweiler acquitted Jelle Visser and Jan Ponsen of breach of privacy, ruling that the public interest in the Boere case outweighed his right to privacy in the retirement home.

The reporters, working for EenVandaag, a Dutch TV programme, had a concealed camera running when they interviewed Boere in 2009 in the home. They told judges they believed they were innocent.

At trial, the German prosecutor also recommended acquittal. Boere's lawyer had initiated the case.