SYDNEY - Australia’s highest court will this week hear an attempt by the government
to extradite an elderly man to Hungary, where he is accused
of murdering a Jewish teenager during World War II, it said
Tuesday.
Charles Zentai is suspected of being one of three Nazi-backed Hungarian soldiers
who tortured and murdered 18-year-old Jewish
man Peter Balazs in November 1944 for not
wearing a yellow Star of David.
Hungarian-born
Zentai, who has lived in Australia for some
six decades and is an Australian citizen,
has always maintained his innocence.
He was
approved for extradition to Hungary in late
2009 but successfully appealed the ruling
on the basis that a “war crime” was not an
extraditable offence.
But
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor has
been granted leave to appeal the decision
to the High Court, Australia’s top judicial
authority.
The
court said Tuesday it would examine whether
an alleged crime had to be an offence in the
country in question at the time for extradition
to be allowed.
Zentai’s
family has said the 90-year-old was willing
to answer questions from Hungarian police
about the murder but did not want to leave
Australia to do so.
asiaone.com
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