An 88-year-old alleged war criminal says he has been through
hell and lost everything fighting attempts to have him
extradited to Hungary.
But after having his appeal upheld, Charles Zentai walked out of the Federal
Court in Perth on Friday saying he was feeling something "he had never felt before".
Mr Zentai is suspected of being one
of three Nazi-backed Hungarian soldiers who murdered Jewish
teenager Peter Balazs in Budapest in November 1944.
In 2005 a Hungarian military judge
issued an arrest warrant for Mr Zentai that alleges he captured
Mr Balazs, assaulted him over a number of hours before dumping
his body in the Danube River.
Shortly after, the then Australian
attorney-general Philip Ruddock issued a warrant for his
arrest and determined he be extradited.
Nearly five years later and after
numerous appeals through a host of courts, Home Affairs Minister
Brendan O'Connor backed the decision and again ordered Mr
Zentai's extradition.
But on Friday Judge Neil McKerracher
found the minister's decision was beyond his jurisdiction
and void, and that war crime was not a "qualifying extradition offence" for which Mr Zentai could be surrendered.
"It is argued that the
Minister made errors of law and fact and misdirected himself
on a fundamental matter, namely, whether Mr Zentai was capable
of being surrendered under the Act," he said in his judgment.
"As Mr Zentai was, as a
matter of fact, not capable of being found to be an `eligible
person' ... the Minister had no power to make a determination
for his surrender for extradition."
Judge McKerracher also found the minister
failed to properly consider whether it would be "oppressive and incompatible with humanitarian consideration" to extradite Mr Zentai due to his age, ill health and the severity of the sentence
he faced.
Outside court Mr Zentai said the five-year
legal process had put he and his family "through hell".
The pensioner said the battle against
his extradition had cost him his entire life savings.
"I have lost practically
everything. But I still have my electric scooter," Mr Zentai said.
Jewish human rights organisation The
Simon Wiesenthal Centre says the decision to stop the extradition
of Mr Zentai underscores the total failure of Australia to
take legal action against local Nazi war criminals.
"Today is a very sad day
for Australia, Australian justice, and especially for the
Balazs family and for people seeking justice for the victims
of the Holocaust," Simon Wiesenthal Centre director Efraim Zuroff said in a statement.
Dr Zuroff said the Zentai case showed
a lack of understanding by the Australian judicial system
of the urgency and importance of bringing suspected Holocaust
criminals to justice.
He said Mr Zentai's age was totally
irrelevant and the notion that he would be treated harshly
in Hungary was ludicrous.
"We urge the Hungarian
and Australian authorities to take all possible measures
to overturn today's unfortunate decision," he said.
Mr O'Connor said he would read and
consider the Federal Court judgment.
"As the case may come before
me again for decision, it is inappropriate for me to comment
further at this time," he said in a statement.
Hungarian-born Mr Zentai, a widower
and great-grandfather, emigrated to Perth from Germany as
a refugee in 1950 before becoming an Australian citizen in
1958.
He worked as a mental health nurse
before his retirement.
Mr Zentai's youngest son, Ernie Steiner,
said Mr O'Connor was poorly advised, adding his department
now has a "lot to answer for".
"They were so keen to represent
the interests of Hungary they forgot about the fact they
had an Australian citizen that was being unfairly treated," Mr Steiner said.
"They should have looked
at the detail and they didn't.
"My father has suffered
a huge injustice."
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