High Court to rule on extradition |
THE High Court will determine whether an elderly Perth man can be extradited
to Hungary to face questioning over war crimes.
Charles Zentai denies that he murdered an 18-year-old Jewish man in November
1944 while in the Hungarian army. He allegedly
beat the man to death and threw his body into
the Danube River.
The
government in 2009 approved Mr Zentai's extradition
to Hungary, but the decision was overturned
on appeal in the Federal Court in August.
Now the Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor
has been granted leave to appeal the decision
to the High Court.
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Story continues below The Federal Court found
that the offence of ''war crime'' did not
exist in Hungarian law in November 1944, and
as a result Mr O'Connor was not able to approve
Mr Zentai's extradition.
The
High Court will determine whether the extradition
treaty between Australia and Hungary operates
only where the actual offence was an offence
at the time it was alleged to have occurred.
Mr Zentai
is on bail pending the High Court's decision.
theage.com.au
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