A decision by the Federal Court in Perth not to extradite Charles Zentai to Hungary to face questioning about the murder of a Jewish youth in 1944 has been appealed by the Federal Government.

18-yr-old Peter Balazs was dragged off a Budapest tram and taken to military barracks where he was beaten to death by three men in front of other prisoners. His body was then dumped in the Danube.

89-yr-old Perth resident Charles Zentai who immigrated to Australia in 1950 is wanted by the Hungarian authorities for questioning about the murder. The application for extradition was approved by the courts in 2009 but overturned before a single judge of the Federal Court last year.

The newly announced appeal will be heard by three Federal Court judges at a date yet to be fixed.

From Israel, Efraim Zuroff, the Executive Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre praised the Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor for appealing the decision against Zentai’s extradition. He said: “Minister O’Connor has wisely not yet been persuaded by the disinformation campaign launched on behalf of Mr Zentai by his family and supporters who are determined to prevent him from facing justice. There is an abundance of evidence which points unequivocally to Zentai’s active participation in the murder of Peter Balzs which originally convinced the Hungarian government to initially seek his extradition in the late forties. Rather than regarding Zentai as a frail pensioner, he should be considered as a person who at the time of his physical prime devoted all of his strength and energy to the persecution of innocent Jews.”

Dr. Colin Rubenstein, Executive Director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council said today, “AIJAC welcomes the decision by the Commonwealth Government to appeal the Federal Court’s decision in the matter of the extradition of alleged murderer Charles Zentai to Hungary. After analysing the Federal Court verdict handed down last July, AIJAC came to the conclusion an appeal against the decision to release Mr. Zentai was warranted and that a number of aspects of the matter required further scrutiny. It is in the interests of justice and fairness that the charges against him be properly dealt with in a court of law.”

jwire.com.au