BBC Monitoring International Reports

April 19, 2005

US COURT READMITS CASE AGAINST VATICAN BANK BROUGHT BY YUGOSLAV WWII VICTIMS

Excerpt from report by Belgrade-based private BKTV on 19 April

[Presenter] The US Federal Court of Appeals has revived a case initiated by the victims of the Holocaust in former Yugoslavia, who pressed charged claiming that [Croatian pro-Nazi military organization] Ustashas had robbed them of millions of dollars, and that the money ended up in the Vatican Bank.

[Reporter] The Vatican Bank, the financial branch of the Roman Catholic Church, rejected charges that it had taken over property looted from several thousand Jews, Romanies or Serbs who were murdered by the Ustasha Nazi regime in Croatia or were sent to the camps.

The lawyer acting for the Holocaust survivors, Jonathan Levy, is convinced that the decision by the Court of Appeals, combined with the current election of the new Pope, could lead to an out of court settlement. The new Pope could be more energetic in solving these issues, Levy said. [Passage omitted]

Source: BKTV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1355 gmt 19 Apr 05

JOURNAL-CODE: WBMS

LOAD-DATE: April 19, 2005