Australia says WW2 war crime suspect can be extradited

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An alleged World War Two war criminal living in Australia was eligible for extradition to Hungary to face justice, an Australian court ruled on Wednesday.

Charles Zentai, 86, was arrested by Australian Federal Police in July 2005 and is 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 November 8, 1944.

"I determine that Mr Zentai is eligible for surrender to the Republic of Hungary ... and therefore he is remanded in custody," Magistrate Barbara Lane told the Perth Magistrate's Court.

Zentai's lawyers can now appeal to Australia's Federal Court.

After the hearing, Zentai's son told reporters his father was now a victim.

"The tables have been turned. The persecuted in history have now become the persecutor," Gabriel Steiner said.

"He made a commitment to be an Australian citizen 50 years ago and I think Australia needs to make some commitment to him. He has been an exemplary citizen. My dad has never hidden his name," Steiner said.

Zentai, who moved to Perth after the war, is listed by the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center as one of the top 10 war criminals still at large, accusing him of taking part in "manhunts, persecution, deportation and murder of Jews".

Balazs, 18, was traveling 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's family has argued their father, a retired mental health nurse, would not survive extradition due to frail health.

Zentai lost a challenge in Australia's peak High Court in April after his lawyers unsuccessfully argued the Perth court did not have the power to consider extradition.

His lawyer on Monday argued that under extradition treaty arrangements between Australia and the Republic of Hungary, his client could only be charged under the laws existing at the time of the offence.

But after a three-day hearing, Lane said Zentai's case and circumstances met the requirements of the Australian Extradition Act and the treaty between Canberra and Budapest.

A decision to extradite Zentai to Hungary will ultimately be made by Australia's Attorney-General Robert McClelland, depending on court rulings.

(Editing by David Fox)