BERLIN (AP) — A German court has decided not to put on trial a former guard at the Nazis' Majdanek death camp who was charged with being an accessory to murder, saying that he is too sick to face court proceedings.

The Frankfurt state court announced its decision Thursday, citing a comprehensive medical assessment of the 97-year-old suspect that was delayed repeatedly by spells in a hospital.

The suspect, whose name wasn't released, was charged in 2017 for allegedly serving at the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland between August 1943 and January 1944. In particular, he was accused of supporting Operation Erntefest, or Operation Harvest Festival, on Nov. 3, 1943.

On that day, at least 17,000 Jewish prisoners from Majdanek and others were shot in ditches just outside the camp.