LAWYERS for an alleged Nazi say the war crime he's been charged with was not an offence under Hungarian law at the time it was committed.

Perth resident Charles Zentai, 87, is awaiting a federal government ruling on whether he can be extradited to Hungary to face charges of allegedly torturing and murdering a Jewish man in Budapest during army service in 1944.

Perth magistrate Barbara Lane has found there is nothing to prevent the commonwealth ruling on Zentai's extradition.

In an appeal against that ruling, Zentai's lawyer Grant Donaldson SC told the Federal Court on Tuesday that the war crime for which Zentai was arrested did not apply when the alleged offence occurred.

He said Zentai's legal team wanted a review of Ms Lane's decision, on the basis that the alleged murder of Jewish teenager Peter Balazs in November 1944 was not a war crime.

``This offence simply was not an offence at that time,'' Mr Donaldson said.

He said there was ``a degree of confusion'' around the case following the drafting of a Hungarian treaty in 1945.

But at the time of Balazs's slaying, the charge of murder did not exist as a war crime under Hungarian law, he said.

``If Zentai had been accused of murder and the extradition was sought on those grounds at the time, the problem would not have arisen,'' Mr Donaldson said.

The hearing continues before Justice John Gilmour.

Accused proclaimed his innocence

ACCUSED war criminal Charles Zentai has proclaimed his innocence before facing a Federal Court hearing to appeal an order for his extradition to Hungary.

Zentai, 87, who lives in Perth, is awaiting a federal government ruling on whether he can be extradited to face charges of allegedly torturing and murdering a Jewish man in Budapest during army service in 1944.

A Perth magistrate has found there is nothing to prevent the commonwealth ruling on his extradition.

Zentai will today appeal against that ruling.

He will argue the laws under which he was arrested did not apply when the alleged offence occurred, and that retrospective legislation cannot be applied to his case.

Zentai, who has taken a lie detector test in what he says is a bid to satisfy everyone of his innocence, said he was under ``tremendous pressure, physically and emotionally''.

``Can you imagine the constant pressure and what it does to you,'' he told reporters before entering the Federal Court in Perth.

``My health has deteriorated considerably. I was just recently diagnosed with heart failure and (I am getting) other treatment for another heart disease I have.

``This is tremendous pressure for me.''

Zentai said he had taken the lie detector test on Monday last week and had released the results, which he said showed he was telling the truth.

He said taking the test was not ``emotionally hard and psychologically not hard at all, because I had nothing to hide''.

``It was physically hard because there was pressure on my arms, and some discomfort,'' he said.

``I just want justice.''

Zentai's son Ernie Steiner said the death of his father's principal witness, his sister, meant he could not defend the charges with any first-hand evidence.

``She helped to establish the facts (that) my father was in another place at the time of the alleged murder,'' Mr Steiner said.

``The two men who were tried and convicted of that murder were not with my father at the time.

``That's a fact I'm trying to get across.

``On November 8, 1944, they were back at the barracks and my father was not.

``I do have a lot of evidence from the People's Court (in Hungary) about the corruption of the court and how the testimonies against my father are falsified.''

Mr Steiner said that if the appeal on Tuesday failed, the case would go to the full bench of the Federal Court and to the High Court if necessary.

He said he would also expect Hungary to appeal any decision in favour of his father and the case ``could go backwards and forwards for quite some time''.

For legal reasons, comments cannot be published on this matter.

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