Accused Nazi war criminal Charles Zentai has been granted bail by the Federal Court today after earlier being ordered into custody ahead of his possible extradition to Hungary.
Perth Magistrates Court today ruled the 86-year-old Perth man was eligible to be surrendered to Hungary to face war crimes allegations.
After his lawyers lodged an appeal in the Federal Court so that an application for bail could be heard, Justice Neil McKerracher agreed that it was a special case in which bail was warranted.
He was allowed bail of $50,000 with a $75,000 surety and was expected to be released from Perth's Hakea prison later today.
Justice McKerracher said the conditions would include provisions that Zentai does not go within 100 metres of Perth international or domestic airport departure areas.
He must also reside at his southern Perth address of Willeton and surrender his passports.
Zentai denies he murdered an 18-year-old Jewish man, who with two other soldiers was assaulted and killed in Budapest in 1944, for not wearing the yellow star that marked him as a Jew.
Magistrate Barbara Lane today found Zentai's case meets the terms and conditions of the Extradition Act and said he was eligible to be surrendered to Hungary for trial.
In the Federal Court, Justice McKerracher read from a medical statement obtained by Zentai's GP of 30 years, who said he had an aschemic heart condition, recent angina and had suffered a number of mini strokes over several years.
The statement said Zentai's health had deteriorated severely in recent years.
Justice McKerracher said apart from medical reasons, he was granting bail because Zentai had been "exemplary" in the way he had handled his bail conditions since his arrest in 2005.
He also had close friends and family living nearby him and he had no known friends or family left in Hungary, he said.
"Given all these matters I am satisfied that there are special circumstances," Justice McKerracher said.
"They also support a conclusion that there is no risk of flight.
"This is an application .... in which bail should be issued."
Commonwealth prosecutor Darren Renton did not oppose the application.
