Prosecutors appeal suspension of war crimes case

Double jeopardy ruling for Laszlo Csatary is ‘premature’ say lawyers

9 July 2013, 2:31 pm

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Alleged Hungarian war criminal Laszlo Csatary sits in a car as he leaves the Budapest Prosecutor's Office after he was questioned by detectives on charges of war crimes during WWII, on July 18, 2012. (photo credit: AP Photo/MTI, Bea Kallos)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian prosecutors have appealed a court decision suspending their case against Laszlo Csatary, a 98-year-old former police officer who has been charged with war crimes for allegedly abusing Jews and assisting in their deportation to Nazi death camps during World War II.

A Budapest court suspended the case because of double jeopardy, as the charges filed by Hungarian prosecutors against Csatary are similar to those for which he was sentenced to death in Czechoslovakia in 1948.

Slovakia recently changed the sentence to life in prison and a decision on a request for Csatary’s extradition is expected this month.

Prosecutors’ spokeswoman Bettina Bagoly said Tuesday that they considered the court’s decision premature and felt that the case could continue even pending Slovakia’s decision on extradition.