A CATHOLIC priest has angered members of the Jewish community by urging Justice Minister Chris Ellison not to extradite accused war criminal Charles Zentai, saying such a move would be a "gross act of inhumanity and a grave injustice".
Mr Zentai's parish priest, John Flynn, has written to Senator Ellison saying the 83-year-old Perth widower had proved himself to be "a good man, a good father and a good Christian" who should not be forced to leave his family for a war crimes trial in his native Hungary.
Mr Zentai was arrested on Friday to face extradition proceedings over allegations he murdered a Jewish teenager in Budapest in November 1944.
The Jewish human rights organisation that led the hunt for Mr Zentai is outraged that Father Flynn, who has no knowledge of the evidence, should seek to intervene in the case.
"This seems to me a very automatic response of rushing to help a friend without understanding the consequences of opposing justice," said Efraim Zuroff, director of the Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
"It's unfortunate that a man of the cloth will choose to respond in this manner."
Jeremy Jones, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said no one was yet in a position to judge Mr Zentai's guilt or innocence.
"I think it's very nice that a person of religion would want to talk about the good inside a human being, but there is also a matter of responsibility to see if someone has committed crimes, that they are brought to trial for their crimes," Mr Jones said.
"If you murder someone, the book does not close, even if you happen to be a very nice guy later in life," he said.
A warrant issued in 1948 for Mr Zentai's arrest detailed Mr Zentai's alleged role in the five-hour beating of Peter Balazs, 18, at the Arena Utca barracks in Budapest , which resulted in his death.
The teenager's body was then put on to a hay cart, which was weighted with stones and thrown into the Danube river.
Mr Zentai has maintained his innocence, and his lawyer, Michael Bowden, argued there were problems with the way testimonies against his client were obtained.
A hearing in Perth Magistrates' Court will determine if Mr Zentai should be extradited, but Senator Ellison will have the discretion to over-rule such a decision.
Senator Ellison has declined to accept Father Flynn's invitation to meet Mr Zentai, saying such a meeting would be inappropriate. But the minister may consider the priest's letter of support after the court process is completed.
In the letter, Father Flynn suggested there could be "no hard evidence" to convict Mr Zentai. "Where's the gun? Where are the bullets? Where are the fingerprints? Where's the DNA? Who are the living witnesses?" he asks.
He admitted to The Australian yesterday that he had never discussed details of the case with Mr Zentai and had mistakenly assumed it was a shooting murder. But he remained certain of his parishioner's innocence.
In the letter, he described Mr Zentai as "one of the kindest, gentlest persons one would wish to meet".
"The care, self-sacrifice and dedication to his wife over the years of her terminal illness was inspirational."
news.com.au 13/07/2005
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