Zentai’s lawyer details submissions
Dennis Barich, the legal representative of 88-yr-old Charles Zentai who is wanted by Hungarian authorities for questioning over the 1944 murder of a Jewish teenager, has outlined the submissions made to the Minister for Home Affairs.Zentai is now in jail in Perth awaiting the decision of Minister Brendan O’Connor about the requested extradition by the Hungarians.
In his statement , Barich points out that his client is wanted only for questioning and that no charges have been laid and that he is “not actually accused of the alleged offence”.
He says Zentai has made himself available to answer questions in Australia and that key witnesses in Hungary have disappeared or died.
Zentai maintains that his military unit left Budapest the day before the alleged crime took place and says that “it is unlikely that the Hungarian authorities will be able to produce the military records to verify his claim”.
In 1944, 18-yr-old Peter Balazs was dragged from a tram and beaten to death in a nearby army barracks. His body was dumped in the Danube.
