Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, spoke to J-Wire today from his Jerusalem office about the Zentai case.

Charles Zentai is an 87-yr-old Perth man who fled Hungary after the war but remains wanted for questioning by the Hungarian Government about the part he allegedly played in the murder of 18-yr-old Jewish man Peter Balazs in Budapest in 1948. Balazs, living under Swiss protection, was known to his killers who spotted him in a tram not wearing the yellow Star of David. He was bundled off the vehicle and manhandled back to army barracks where he was severely beaten and allegedly murdered. His body was weighted and thrown in the Danube.

Zentai, whose name at the time was Karoly Steiner, escaped into the American Zone after the war, fleeing to France, Italy and finally Perth.

His lawyers pleaded in the Federal Court in Perth this week that a magistrate-approved extradition request was not legal as the alleged crime was written before the invoked law. Zentai also told media he had willingly taken a lie-detector test which showed him to be innocent. He now awaits the result of his appeal.

Meanwhile in Israel, a frustrated Zuroff told J-Wire : “There is not a country in the world that will accept into evidence the results of a lie detector test. They are totally irrelevant. It’s shameful that he can exploit the legal technicalities in Australian law to delay this case. In my view, his behaviour is that of someone with something to hide.”

During a visit to Australia, Zuroff visited Zentai’s children in Perth who tried to convince him that their father was innocent and could not have committed such a crime. Zuroff said: “Sadly, there are a lot of cases of families where parents hold dark secrets their children rarely discover. It’s not that unusual.”

Zuroff questions Zentai’s unwillingness to return to Hungary to answer the courts there. “This is not a backward country, ” he said. “Hungary is member of the EEU and very sophisticated. He would get a fair hearing…what is he scared of?” On the state of Zentai’s health, Zuroff added: “They claim he is not a well man…but he is still managing to live on his own so he cannot be in serious ill health.”

Zuroff and Zentai await the decision of Federal Court Justice John Gilmour.

Australia has never brought a known Nazi war criminal to justice.

jwire.com.au