Judges' Trial - Indictment

Indictment

1. Participating in a common plan or conspiracy to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity;
2. War crimes through the abuse of the judicial and penal process, resulting in mass murder, torture, plunder of private property.
3. Crimes against humanity on the same grounds, including slave labor charges.
4. Membership in a criminal organization, the NSDAP or SS leadership corps.

Count 4 applied only to Altstötter, Cuhorst, Engert, Joel (with respect to the SS) and to Cuhorst, Oeschy, Nebelung, and Rothaug concerning the NSDAP leadership. Both organizations had been found criminal previously by the IMT.

Count 1 was dropped: the court declared the charge to be outside its jurisdiction. Judge Blair filed a dissenting opinion that stated that the court should have made a statement that the Military Tribunals of the NMT in fact did have jurisdiction over charges of "conspiracy to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity".

All defendants pleaded "not guilty".