CLEVELAND (AP) - A federal appeals court has rejected a request to restore the U.S. citizenship of a recently deceased Ohio autoworker convicted of Nazi war crimes.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Thursday ruled that John Demjanjuk cannot regain his citizenship posthumously.

Demjanjuk died March 17 in Germany at age 91.

His defense attorneys had asked the appeals court to restore the former suburban Cleveland resident's citizenship. They say the American government withheld potentially helpful material. The defense team asked that the court to either restore the citizenship or to order a hearing on the case.

The appeals panel's decision upholds a ruling last year by a Cleveland judge who refused to reopen the citizenship case.

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