By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An Italian military court has allowed a former Nazi officer convicted for his role in a 1944 massacre to leave house arrest to work - a ruling that sparked outrage among the families of those murdered, politicians and Jewish groups.
Since last month, 93-year-old Erich Priebke has been allowed to leave the Rome apartment where he is serving a life sentence to work at his lawyer's studio in the Italian capital, lawyer, Paolo Giachini, said Wednesday.
Priebke had been in prison or house arrest since he was extradited to Italy in 1994 from Argentina. He was convicted of war crimes three years later for his role in the massacre of 335 civilians at the Ardeatine Caves on the outskirts of Rome.
Priebke had admitted to shooting two people and helping round up the victims, but had always insisted he was just following orders and should not be held responsible.