AN ELDERLY refugee from the former Soviet Union will face Britain's first war crimes trial after magistrates ruled yesterday he should answer charges that he murdered three Jews during the second World War.
Magistrate Peter Badge said Mr Szymon Serafinowicz (85), a retired carpenter, must face three charges of killing unnamed Jews in the former Soviet republic of Belarus between 1941 and 1942, when Germany occupied the region.
Mr Serafinowicz appeared bewildered by the proceedings and had to turn his head to hear the ruling.
The charge sheet accuses him of murdering unnamed Jews between November 1941 and March 1942 in villages of Mir, Kryniczne and Dolmatowsczczyzna. A fourth charge was dropped.
Mr Nicholas Bowers, defending, said Mr Serafinowicz continued to maintain his innocence.
"He has instructed me to prepare a full and vigorous defence to those charges. He is in fact looking forward to establishing his innocence before a jury."
After the ruling, the court clerk read out the indictment and asked the defendant if he understood what was going on.
Mr Serafinowicz, a small man wearing a cap and an old jacket, said: "Yes."
The case is expected to be heard later this year.
Britain's Jews received the news "with interest" but reaction was generally low-key.
"The British Jewish community has every confidence in the fairness of our criminal justice system and in the ability of our courts to ensure justice," said Mr Neville Ngaler, chairman of the Board of Deputies which represents Jews in Britain.
Like many Byelorussians who opposed Russia's communist rule, Mr Serafinowicz became a volunteer member of the police force set up by the Nazis during their occupation, which began in 1941.
He came to Britain after the war with his Polish-born wife. He settled in Surrey, southern England, where he made his living as a carpenter until his retirement.
He was charged in June 1995 following an investigation by a special police war crimes unit.
Mr Serafinowicz is the first person to face trial under the 1991 War Crimes Act, which allows British courts to prosecute war criminals even though they were not British citizens when they committed the crimes and the offences did not take place on British soil.
The war crimes tin it has investigated about 350 cases since it was set up in 1991, but many of the suspects have died and many more have been told they are no longer under investigation.
Currently, the unit is carrying out inquiries into another 11 war crimes suspects.