With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Accused Australian war criminal takes lie detector test

An 87-year-old alleged war criminal accused of murdering a young Jewish man in World War II said Tuesday he had taken a lie detector test to prove his innocence.

Charles Zentai is accused of beating to death teenager Peter Balazs in 1944 in Budapest while serving as a soldier in the army of his native Hungary, then allied with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Speaking ahead of a legal challenge to his extradition to Hungary, which was ordered last August, Zentai said he had taken a polygraph test to satisfy himself, his family and the media.

Zentai's lawyers told the Federal Court he should not be extradited, because the charges brought against him -- which he denies -- were legally unsound.

If he loses his Federal Court bid, Zentai has indicated he will appeal to the court's full bench, and then to the High Court.

Were he to be sent back to Europe, Zentai would be the first Australian citizen to face war crimes charges.

Read entire article at AFP