Australia 'Nazi case' extradition

The Australian government has approved the extradition of an 88-year-old alleged former Nazi to Hungary to face accusations of murder.

Charles Zentai is accused of killing Jewish teenager Peter Balazs in Budapest in 1944.

At the time, Mr Zentai was a warrant officer in the Hungarian army, then allied to Nazi Germany.

Hungary has two months to complete the extradition. Mr Zentai's family say they will try to overturn the decision.

The Hungarian government alleges that Mr Zentai took part in the fatal beating of Mr Balazs for not wearing a Star of David to identify him as Jewish. He says he was not in Budapest at that time.

The allegations against Mr Zentai were initially brought by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish rights organisation dedicated to hunting down Nazi war criminals.

He is listed as one of the centre's 10 most-wanted suspects, for having "participated in manhunts, persecution and murder of Jews in Budapest in 1944".

Australian Home Minister Brendan O'Connor said the decision to extradite him did not indicate that Mr Zentai was guilty but was simply "in accordance with Australia's extradition legislation and its international obligations".

Mr Zentai moved to Australia after the war and was living in the western city of Perth when the Hungarian government began extradition proceedings in 2005.

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