Samyn/McArthur Winnipeg Free Press 25-May-1998 Neal Sher: Someone from another country

Samyn/McArthur Winnipeg Free Press 25-May-1998 Neal Sher: Someone from another country

Sher thinks the Ukrainian Canadian community is overreacting.
(Joe Bryksa/Winnipeg Free Press)

CONTROVERSIAL NAZI HUNTER APPLAUDS FEDS

By Paul Samyn
and Keith McArthur
National/Staff Reporter
OTTAWA � HE'S made a name for himself as a top-notch Nazi hunter.

But to Canada's Ukrainian community, the controversy swirling around Neal Sher � who was a panelist yesterday at the Canadian Jewish Congress assembly meeting in Winnipeg � means his name should not be on the federal government's payroll.

At the Jewish Congress meeting, Sher appeared on a panel called "Prosecution of War Criminals and the Issue of Financial Restitution."

In an interview after the discussion, Sher said there's only about three to five years left to prosecute Second World War criminals � before many of them die of old age.

He applauded Canada's renewed commitment to going after war criminals. "They're committed to it. They're trying more cases. They're winning more cases. They've been travelling the world to get more evidence."

He said much of that success relates to a decision by Canada to stop bringing criminal charges against suspected war criminals and move instead to a policy of denaturalization and deportation.

Sher, a Washington lawyer who headed the U.S. justice department's war-crime unit for 12 years, has been working as a consultant to Justice Minister Anne McLellan, providing advice in the hunt for Nazi war criminals at $200 an hour.

But Sher is currently under investigation for perjury by the United States Office of Professional Responsibility for his work in the extradition of a war criminal.

And his role in the extradition of John Demjanjuk � who was later acquitted by the Israeli Supreme Court of being the notorious death camp guard Ivan the Terrible � has the Ukrainian community seething.

"We think it is inappropriate," said John Petryshyn, a national director with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

"Until he is cleared, he should not be employed by the Canadian government at all."

Petryshyn said he's worried Sher's tactics will lead to unfair persecution of Ukrainian Canadians.

He said about 3,000 members of the Ukrainian community have already written to Ottawa to protest Sher's hiring.

But Sher said yesterday he's been assured by U.S. investigators that he will be cleared of the perjury accusations against him.

He accused some of his critics of anti-Semitism, noting that information circulating about him includes attacks on Israel and allegations that the Jews themselves were behind the Holocaust.

He said those who oppose his work in Canada are really just trying to stop the prosecution of war criminals in general.

Sher believes that the Ukrainian Canadian community is overreacting after Canada went after a former Ukrainian policeman for war crimes.

"I find it sad and tragic when an ethnic community thinks that the justice department � by bringing forward a case against one individual � is bringing something against all Ukrainians."

The Jewish community lauds Sher's appointment as a sign Ottawa is taking the hunt for Nazi war criminals seriously.

"They got someone who is dedicated to the task," said Bob Freedman, executive director of the Jewish Foundation of Winnipeg.

"If Neal Sher does the job, then that's great."

But Reform justice critic Jack Ramsay said he believes the Ukrainian community is expressing a legitimate concern.

Ramsay said he didn't know why McLellan felt she needed to go outside to hire a U.S. lawyer who can't practice here and is under investigation.

"I think we have competent investigators in Canada," Ramsay said.

"Why do we need someone from another country advising us on proceedings in our own ountry?"

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