War crimes accused Captain Dragan wins his appeal

AN Australian accused of brutal war crimes when he led a Serbian paramilitary unit in the early 1990s is set to be released from a Sydney prison tomorrow after the Federal Court upheld his appeal against extradition to Croatia.

AN Australian accused of brutal war crimes when he led a Serbian paramilitary unit in the early 1990s is set to be released from a Sydney prison tomorrow after the Federal Court upheld his appeal against extradition to Croatia.

Dragan Vasiljkovic, 54, who was known as Captain Dragan while a Serb military commander, has been in custody in Sydney since 2006, when he was arrested by Australian Federal Police following an extradition request by the Croatian government.

It was alleged that, between 1991 and 1992, Mr Vasiljkovic ordered his Serbian troops to commit a massacre, commissioned the beatings of Croatian prisoners of war, and repeatedly raped a Bosnian woman.

Mr Vasiljkovic, who was living under the name Daniel Snedden when arrested, has denied the allegations.

Yesterday, a full bench of the Federal Court, made up of judges Annabelle Bennett, Geoffrey Flick and Neil McKerracher, upheld Mr Vasiljkovic's appeal against his extradition on the grounds he would not be able to get a fair trial in Croatia.

Mr Vasiljkovic's legal team had argued the justice system in Croatia would be prejudiced against him because of his "political beliefs" - which, the court was told, are that the Krajina Serbs have a right to return to their homeland and are entitled to an independent state.

Serbs constituted a majority in the Krajina region until they fled advancing Croatian military forces in 1995.

In their written judgment, the judges observed that the extradition request made by the Croatian government referred specifically to the conflict "between the armed forces of the Republic of Croatia and the armed aggressor's Serbian paramilitary troops of the anti-constitutional entity the 'Republic of Krajina"'.

The Federal Court also heard that, according to a 2006 report by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, 29per cent of Serbians who faced war crimes trials in Croatia were convicted, as opposed to 7.5 per cent of Croatians who faced trial on similar charges.

The judges also ruled there "are substantial grounds for believing that he may be punished or imprisoned and thereby detained or restricted in his personal liberty, and such treatment arises by reason of his nationality or political opinions".

The court ordered his release, but stayed the order until 3pm tomorrow to allow lawyers acting for Croatia to consider lodging an appeal. Costs were awarded in favour of Mr Snedden.

Last night, a spokesman for Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Australian government was considering whether to appeal against the Federal Court ruling.

A spokeswoman from the Croatian embassy refused to comment.

Serbs for Justice spokesman Ilija Glisic told AAP the group was delighted with the decision.

"Justice has finally prevailed," he said. "Not only for Daniel, but also for any other Australians who may find themselves in the same position."

In a separate court hearing, Mr Vasiljkovic is suing Nationwide News for defamation over an article published in The Australian in September 2005, which detailed his alleged activities in the Balkans in the early 1990s.

In July 2007, a jury found the article contained a number of meanings that were defamatory of Mr Vasiljkovic, including that he condoned the rape of women and girls, was a mercenary and a "Death Squad" commander.

Nationwide News is defending the truth of the article.