ID :
16553
Thu, 08/21/2008 - 10:08
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/16553
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Accused Nazi war criminal granted bail
(AAP) - Lawyers for accused Nazi war criminal Charles Zentai hope they can quash a decision which paves the way for his extradition to Hungary.
Zentai was released from Perth's Hakea prison on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after being placed in custody by a Perth magistrate who ruled he was eligible forsurrender to Hungary to be tried on war crimes charges.
Lawyers have started proceedings to overturn that decision and successfully appliedfor bail for the ailing 86-year-old Perth man, who suffers from heart failure.
Should they fail, Zentai will be the first Australian to be extradited for war crimes.
Barrister John Fiocco said it was possible the next stage of legal review could goall the way to the High Court.
"Yes it could but you would only be able to do that with special leave," Mr Fioccosaid.
"So there's still some processes to go. There's a Federal Court judge and a full court of the Federal Court if we think it's necessary." In April 2007, the full bench of the Federal Court dismissed Zentai's appeal againstthe extradition.
Four months ago, the High Court also ruled against him, finding the PerthMagistrates Court was an appropriate jurisdiction for the matter to be heard.
Zentai denies an allegation that he killed teenager Peter Balazs in Budapest in November 1944, after arresting him for failing to wear a yellow star to identify himas a Jew.
Balazs was known to Zentai from their home village of Budapot and Zentai was onpatrol for Jews in hiding when he spotted him on tram tracks.
The arrest warrant by the Hungarian government says Zentai dragged Balazs to an armypost and assaulted him so badly over the course of several hours that he died.
He was tied to a ballast and thrown into the Danube River.
Justice Neil McKarracher told the Federal Court on Wednesday that Zentai's health had significantly deteriorated in the last couple of years and it was one of thespecial conditions he considered in granting bail.
A report from Zentai's general practitioner said the former soldier had suffered from heart fibrillation, ischemic heart conditions, anginas and minor strokes overseveral years.
It was unlikely, given his health and previous good behaviour on bail since 2005,that there was "a risk of flight", Justice McKerracher said.
"Given all these matters I'm satisfied that there are special circumstances (thatapply to the case)," he said.
"This is an application ... in which bail should be issued."Zentai was placed on a $50,000 personal bail with a $75,000 surety.
Outside the Federal Court on Wednesday, Mr Zentai's son Ernie Steiner said the Magistrates Court hearing had shown there were limitations in a local jurisdictionhearing an international matter and there were other legal avenues to pursue.
His father had considered going back to Hungary to clear his name but decidedagainst it because he did not trust the military court process.
Jewish human rights organisation the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which has pursued Zentai as number seven on its list of 10 most wanted war criminals, welcomed theMagistrate Court's earlier decision.
The centre's director Efraim Zuroff rejected the family's claims Zentai would notreceive a fair trial as "totally absurd".
"Hungary is a member of the NATO, it is a member of the EU and its justice system isexactly the same as any Liberal democratic western country," Mr Zuroff said.
Mr Steiner's older brother Gabriel said a decision to send his father back toHungary would "kill him".
"This is his home. He made a commitment to become an Australian citizen 50 years ago and I think Australia has to make a commitment to him as well," Mr Steiner saidoutside court.
"I'd been feeling different if I thought dad had committed a crime, but we know alot that you don't know.
"They (Zentai and his fiance) weren't in Budapest when the crime occurred." Zentai, now a widower, fled from Hungary to Germany after the war and emigrated toAustralia in 1951.
He went on to become a mental health nurse, has three sons, a daughter, 12grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
The final decision on Zentai's extradition will be made by federal Attorney-GeneralBob Debus.
Zentai was released from Perth's Hakea prison on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after being placed in custody by a Perth magistrate who ruled he was eligible forsurrender to Hungary to be tried on war crimes charges.
Lawyers have started proceedings to overturn that decision and successfully appliedfor bail for the ailing 86-year-old Perth man, who suffers from heart failure.
Should they fail, Zentai will be the first Australian to be extradited for war crimes.
Barrister John Fiocco said it was possible the next stage of legal review could goall the way to the High Court.
"Yes it could but you would only be able to do that with special leave," Mr Fioccosaid.
"So there's still some processes to go. There's a Federal Court judge and a full court of the Federal Court if we think it's necessary." In April 2007, the full bench of the Federal Court dismissed Zentai's appeal againstthe extradition.
Four months ago, the High Court also ruled against him, finding the PerthMagistrates Court was an appropriate jurisdiction for the matter to be heard.
Zentai denies an allegation that he killed teenager Peter Balazs in Budapest in November 1944, after arresting him for failing to wear a yellow star to identify himas a Jew.
Balazs was known to Zentai from their home village of Budapot and Zentai was onpatrol for Jews in hiding when he spotted him on tram tracks.
The arrest warrant by the Hungarian government says Zentai dragged Balazs to an armypost and assaulted him so badly over the course of several hours that he died.
He was tied to a ballast and thrown into the Danube River.
Justice Neil McKarracher told the Federal Court on Wednesday that Zentai's health had significantly deteriorated in the last couple of years and it was one of thespecial conditions he considered in granting bail.
A report from Zentai's general practitioner said the former soldier had suffered from heart fibrillation, ischemic heart conditions, anginas and minor strokes overseveral years.
It was unlikely, given his health and previous good behaviour on bail since 2005,that there was "a risk of flight", Justice McKerracher said.
"Given all these matters I'm satisfied that there are special circumstances (thatapply to the case)," he said.
"This is an application ... in which bail should be issued."Zentai was placed on a $50,000 personal bail with a $75,000 surety.
Outside the Federal Court on Wednesday, Mr Zentai's son Ernie Steiner said the Magistrates Court hearing had shown there were limitations in a local jurisdictionhearing an international matter and there were other legal avenues to pursue.
His father had considered going back to Hungary to clear his name but decidedagainst it because he did not trust the military court process.
Jewish human rights organisation the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which has pursued Zentai as number seven on its list of 10 most wanted war criminals, welcomed theMagistrate Court's earlier decision.
The centre's director Efraim Zuroff rejected the family's claims Zentai would notreceive a fair trial as "totally absurd".
"Hungary is a member of the NATO, it is a member of the EU and its justice system isexactly the same as any Liberal democratic western country," Mr Zuroff said.
Mr Steiner's older brother Gabriel said a decision to send his father back toHungary would "kill him".
"This is his home. He made a commitment to become an Australian citizen 50 years ago and I think Australia has to make a commitment to him as well," Mr Steiner saidoutside court.
"I'd been feeling different if I thought dad had committed a crime, but we know alot that you don't know.
"They (Zentai and his fiance) weren't in Budapest when the crime occurred." Zentai, now a widower, fled from Hungary to Germany after the war and emigrated toAustralia in 1951.
He went on to become a mental health nurse, has three sons, a daughter, 12grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
The final decision on Zentai's extradition will be made by federal Attorney-GeneralBob Debus.
