Australia grants bail for alleged Nazi criminal

An 88-year-old alleged Nazi war criminal facing extradition to Hungary was granted bail by an Australian court Wednesday.

SYDNEY, December 16, 2009 (AFP) - An 88-year-old alleged Nazi war criminal facing extradition to Hungary was granted bail by an Australian court Wednesday.

Charles Zentai, who is accused of beating a Jewish teenager to death during World War II, was granted bail by a federal court judge in Perth, Australian news agency AAP reported.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor approved Zentai's extradition in November, stressing the move was no indication of guilt and giving the elderly man two months to appeal against the decision.

Zentai, who had been living quietly in Western Australia, is accused of the 1944 murder of Peter Balazs, 18, in Budapest while serving in the army of his native Hungary, then allied with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Zentai, who emigrated to Australia after the war, denies the accusation and claims he was not even in Hungary at the time of the murder.