A Federal Court judge has cleared
the way for the extradition of accused Nazi war criminal
Charles Zentai, wanted by Hungarian authorities over the
slaying of a Jewish teenager.
But the 87-year-old Perth resident has vowed to continue his long legal fight
to avoid extradition.
Zentai appeared in the Federal Court
on Tuesday to hear the outcome of his application for a review
of a magistrate's earlier ruling that he was eligible for
surrender to Hungary.
Zentai is alleged to have been with
two other men who tortured 18-year-old Peter Balazs in Budapest
in November 1944, leading to his death. Zentai denies he
was in Budapest at the time.
He challenged the ruling of Perth
magistrate Barbara Lane, which cleared the way for a government
decision on his extradition, arguing the charge against him
did not constitute a war crime at the time of the murder.
But Justice John Gilmour upheld the
ruling of Ms Lane, who had described the argument as "misconceived and quite misleading".
He found the charge was a war crime
and an extradition offence and ordered Zentai to pay the
costs of the court action.
He gave Zentai seven days to provide
specialist medical advice to show why he should not be held
in custody while he awaits a final decision on his extradition.
Lawyer Denis Barich said his client,
who supported himself with walking stick at the hearing,
has a heart condition and is being treated by two specialists.
Zentai is now almost certain to make
application for an appeal to the full bench of the Federal
Court.
His son Ernie Steiner said the family
was disappointed by Justice Gilmour's decision but was "not without hope".
"While we've still got
that hope we just look to the next step," Mr Steiner told reporters outside the court.
"We place trust in the
Australian system and my father has that right - he is exercising
his right to justice."
He said the legal costs of defending
his father had passed $100,000 but the battle had "pulled the family together and made us a lot closer in many respects".
"My father is having to
reverse mortgage his home, but we will do that and do whatever
it takes to achieve justice for him," he said.
Mr Steiner said correspondence earlier
this month between the family and a leader of the Budapest
Military Tribunal, which would try his father, had confirmed
doubts he held about his father's chances of receiving justice
in Hungary.
He said all 19 questions submitted
to the tribunal had gone unanswered, and the tribunal leader,
Brigadier General Bela Varga, had advised the family to go
to the internet for some of the answers.
"I am sure that many Australians
would like to know a bit more about the Hungarian military
courts before our government sends an 87-year-old citizen
back to face them," he said.
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre's chief
Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff welcomed the latest federal court
judgment but said the whole process was infuriating.
"This is my fear (that
it is going to drag on). I'm actually infuriated by this
whole process," Dr Zuroff said.
"It's already four years
since the extradition request from Hungary came to Australia
and Zentai and his family have been able, by a variety of
legal machinations, to prevent him from being extradited."
Dr Zuroff said Zentai should be in
custody.
"The problem is they look
at him and they think he deserves some sort of sympathy because
he's elderly - the people who deserve the sympathy are Peter
Balazs and his family; he's the one who was murdered and
they are the ones who have suffered the loss of a dear one
..." he said.
Dr Zuroff said the family's concerns
that Zentai would not get a fair trial in Hungary were unfounded.
"That's total bullsh*t,
quite frankly that's total bullsh*t," Dr Zuroff said.
"They're talking about
Hungary like nothing has happened in the last 18 years. Hungary
became a democracy, it joined the European Union, it joined
NATO, what are they talking about?"
watoday.com.au
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