Tenacity exposes war criminal

Whatever the opinions and reactions to the sentencing of “Captain Dragan” Vasiljkovic — critics are complaining that 15 years is too lenient and with time spent in detention it could lead to a prompt release — his conviction represents a triumph for justice over the complications of time, distance, legal resistance and international borders. This man, who has become our nation’s first extradited and convicted war criminal, migrated to Australia as a 14-year-old in 1969 and served in the Army Reserve before returning to Serbia and commanding troops in the Balkans conflict over the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. A successful and notorious military leader, Vasiljkovic led the feared Serbian Kininjas who drove Croatians from disputed regions. Long after the war he was revered in Australia’s Serbian community, where he traded on his war exploits and raised money for charities supporting veterans. He was tracked down 12 years ago this month by The Australian reporters Paige Taylor and Natasha Robinson (now with the ABC) in suburban Perth.

So began a lengthy, volatile and complex legal process with Vasiljkovic fighting extradition. He sued this newspaper for defamation in a case we eventually won at great expense after an international effort to prove that our claims about his actions were true. It was a dogged, difficult and important legal battle of which we are extremely proud. The former “Captain Dragan” had his wins in the courts against the authorities and extradition eventually occurred only after a successful appeal in the High Court. He spent almost a decade in detention in Australia while these matters were contested.

Now, three judges sitting in Split, Croatia, have found Vasiljkovic guilty on two of three charges over the killing of people, including a journalist, during attacks on and near the village of Glina in 1991. He also was found guilty of torture but not of murdering Croatian soldiers in 1993. This extraordinary saga is mired in brutality and ugly ethnic and nationalistic tensions. Justice, at least to some degree, appears to have been done. This newspaper and its reporters have played a vital role.