Suspected Nazi war criminal Mr Konrad Kalejs (86) finally left Britain for Australia yesterday, avoiding the threat of deportation proceedings brought by the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, who was forced to defend the decision not to launch a prosecution against him.
Shortly after Latvian-born Mr Kalejs boarded a Singapore Airlines jet at Heathrow Airport en route for Australia, Mr Straw responded to criticism from Jewish groups angered by the decision insisting he must "live by the law" because there was nothing more that could have been done to detain him.
Lord Janner, the chairman of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said he was "distressed" by the failure to prosecute Mr Kalejs in Britain. "The ball is now in Australia's court. I hope they will arrest him, interrogate him, prosecute him and convict him."
The controversy over Mr Kalejs's presence in Britain grew after an investigation by police into allegations that Mr Kalejs led a death squad in Latvia and Belarus, known as the Arajs Commando squad, during the second World War decided that there was not enough evidence to arrest him. With legal options quickly running out, a deportation notice was served and Mr Straw made public his intention to deport Mr Kalejs, who had not planned to return to Australia, where he has citizenship, before his visa ran out. Mr Kalejs was informed that apart from Australia few other countries were likely to accept him.
However, Mr Straw said even if the police had uncovered enough evidence to arrest Mr Kalejs it was questionable whether he would have qualified as a resident in Britain, as required, if a prosecution was to be launched under war crimes legislation.
Explaining his position, Mr Straw said he was struck by the "contradiction" of those who wanted the rule of law applied to people accused of terrorism yet in effect, had called for the rule of law to be by-passed in Mr Kalejs's case. Ministers, he insisted, did not have the power to detain suspects.
"We cannot have a selective approach to justice in a democracy run by the rule of law. . . Either I sat on my hands notwithstanding that I had evidence which suggested very powerfully that this man was complicit in war crimes, did nothing and allowed him to leave to any destination he chose. Or I took action within my available powers in the public interest that I was minded to deport him and as a result have very much greater influence over his destination."
In a statement issued yesterday through the Latvian Embassy in London, the Latvian government said criminal proceedings had been started against Mr Kalejs and called for international help in gathering information which might provide evidence against him. "If in the result of the investigation, the Latvian General Prosecutor's Office will gather enough evidence confirming the guilt of Mr Kalejs, then after the court's decision, Latvia will consider requesting the extradition of Mr Kalejs," the statement said