Accused War Criminal, 86, May Be Tried
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday June 13, 2008
IS IT ever too late to prosecute an accused war criminal? Not in the opinion of Efraim Zuroff, the world's leading Nazi-hunter, who has welcomed news that an 86- year-old Perth man may become the first Australian to be extradited to stand trial for war crimes.
Charles Zentai, a snowy-haired great-grandfather who lives in southern Perth suburbia, is number seven on the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's list of the most-wanted suspected Nazi war criminals. Mr Zuroff, the director of the centre's Israel office, believes Zentai's extradition to Hungary would go some way to redeeming Australia's poor record on prosecuting war crimes."Australia has not succeeded in taking action against a single Nazi war criminal. And believe me, it's not for lack of Nazis. There are many war criminals in Australia. Or were. Most of them are no longer alive." Zentai is alleged to have murdered a young Jewish man in Budapest in 1944, when he was a junior officer in the Nazi-aligned Hungarian army. In an interview in tomorrow's Good Weekend, he declares his innocence.But Mr Zuroff, who tracked down the former psychiatric nurse through Operation Last Chance, a campaign to bring surviving Nazis and their collaborators to justice, has no doubt that Zentai should face court. "It's a very simple, straightforward case."
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
