Volkswagen is seeking to delay its trial in the United States over charges related to the diesel emissions scandal, arguing that Nazi comparisons made by the plaintiff's lawyer could bias the jury.
TheUS subsidiary of the German carmaker submitted the request to delay the trial by six months on Friday night to the court in the eastern state of Virginia.Six months are needed as a "cooling-off period," it argued, in order to ensure that a fair trial was held.
According to the request, the plaintiff's lawyer, Michael Melkersen, had drawn associations between VW's experiments with diesel emissions and the gassing ofJews during the Holocaust in Nazi death camps.
VW's lawyers say the comments, made in the Netflix documentary "DirtyMoney," were an unfair attempt to prejudice jury members and that the Nazi comparisons had no relevance to current proceedings.
Melkersen criticized the request as an attempt to delay justice for the defendants.
VWdrew condemnation last week after it was discovered that it had funded tests involving humans and monkeys inhaling diesel fumes in an attempt to prove it was safe. The revelations were the latest twist in a wider emissions scandal, in which VW admitted installing software that reduced emissions during testing situations.
The trial is set to begin on February 26
dpa
