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THE EICHMANN AFFAIR
With a bizarre international kidnapping by Jewish secret agents as a beginning, with an ex-post facto law as a basis, the Adolph Eichmann trial opened yesterday in Israel. And although its background is one of mass murder and incredible cruelty, and although a roan is in jeopardy of his life with no chance for an aquittal, the trial is receiving billing here in the United States similar to that of an opening night on Broadway. The design behind all this ballyhoo is rathey obvious.
Curiously enough in the many arguements pro and con, whether the kidnapping should invalidate the trial, whether the crime is based on an ex-post facto law (here we set a precedent with the Nuremburg trials,) the one issue that seems to us of utmost importance has gone by unnoticed. That is, the question of venue.
Under our system of law, a man must be tried in the place where he committed a crime. In Virginia, venue is limited to the county or corporation in which the crime occurred; in Federal courts, it is the Federal district in which the offense was perpetrated.
Adolph Eichmann, however, is standing trial in Israel for violation of the laws of Israel for acts he committed in Germany. This is a startling precedent to establish. Our tacit approval of it is no small matter. If we condone this procedure, what objection could we raise to the Russians kidnapping an American and trying him in Russia under Russian law for an act done in the United States. Consider for a moment, that the act need not necessarily be a crime m America. It only need be a violation of the Russian criminal code. When viewed in this light the Eichmann affair takes on a different aspect.
Regardless of the culpablity of the prisoner, or the magnitude of his crime, dangerous precedents should not be created or condoned, for dangerous precedents have a way of returning to haunt their creators.
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