Australia clears accused war criminal extradition

CANBERRA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Australia's government has approved the extradition of an alleged World War Two war criminal listed in the top ten of most-wanted war criminals by the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center. Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said late on Thursday he would not oppose the extradition to Hungary of 88-year-old Charles Zentai, accused of war crimes dating back to 1944. "These obligations reflect Australia's crime cooperation responsibilities to other nations around the globe," O'Connor said, adding his approval was not a sign of guilt or innocence. Zentai was arrested in July 2005 accused of taking part in the fatal beating in 1944 of Jewish teenager Peter Balazs in Budapest. At the time, Zentai was a 23-year-old warrant officer in the pro-Nazi Hungarian military, but argues he left Budapest with his regiment the day before the murder, on Nov. 8, 1944. Zentai's son, Ernie Steiner, said his father would seek a judicial review of a court decision last month clearing the way for Zentai's extradition to face trial in Hungary, with O'Connor having the final say. "The more substantial arguments relate to the fact that my father would be unable to receive a fair trial. The fact that there are no living witnesses," Steiner told Australian radio. Zentai, a retired mental health nurse, moved to Perth after the war and became an Australian citizen. "Karoly" Zentai is listed by the Simon Wiesenthal Center at number seven of the top ten war criminals still at large, and is accused of taking part in "manhunts, persecution, deportation and murder of Jews". Balazs, 18, was travelling on a tram when he was detained for not wearing the yellow Star of David. He was tortured and killed in an army barracks and his body dumped in the Danube River. Zentai has argued he would not survive extradition due to a heart condition requiring specialist care. (Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Sugita Katyal) (([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail])) Keywords: AUSTRALIA EXTRADITION/ XX:SU:REUTERS#SN:nSYD540556#XX:6336940.0#HS:RAMSTXT_9088_2009-11-12_235335_4_315#DU:bdeal+lanreunxd1+lanreunxd2+lanreznxd1+lanreznxd2+rekwire+reawire+rexwire#XN:##XP:tfukfipdistw.datastream.com ~ (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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