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| |  | | Dragan Vasiljkovic | | | context : | Former Yugoslavia  | | judgement place : | Australia | | status : | Indicted | | particulars : | Indicted for war crimes; declared eligible for extradition to Croatia by an Australian Court on 12 April 2007; decision reversed by the Australian Federal Court on 2 September 2009; he was freed on 4 September 2009 | | position : | Former head of Serbian paramilitary group |
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| | | | Dragan Vasiljkovic was arrested on 20 January 2006 in Sydney and is under extradition proceedings to Croatia to be tried for war crimes.
In September 2005, an Australian newspaper revealed Dragan Vasiljkovic’s whereabouts, and on 20 January 2006 he was arrested by the Australian police, following an international arrest warrant issued by Croatian authorities at the beginning of that month.
He was indicted on three war crime charges by the Croatian judicial authorities, including two against prisoners of war under article 122 of the Basic Criminal Code of Croatia and one crime against a civilian under Article 20 of the Basic code. He is accused of having led a unit that killed civilians and tortured prisoners of war in the Croatian towns of Glina and Knin in mid-1991, and Bruska in February 1993.
If convicted, the offences carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Vasiljkovic’s request for release on bail was refused by an Australian judge, and on 9 February 2006 the Croatian authorities issued a formal extradition request. Vasiljkovic’s lawyers argued that his detention in Australia was illegal and claimed that he could not be extradited, because no applicable treaty existed between Croatia and Australia. However, a 1996 understanding between Australia and Croatia acknowledges that an extradition treaty agreed in 1900 between Britain and Serbia continues to be in force between Australia and Croatia. Laws passed in 2004 acknowledge Croatia as an extradition country under the terms of the Australian Extradition Act.
On 15 June 2006, the High Court dismissed an appeal by Vasiljkovic, in which he had claimed that his arrest had been illegal.
In September 2006, Vasiljkovic's lawyers filed a separate challenge before Australia's Federal Court.
On 12 April 2007 the Sydney Local Court ruled that he was eligible for surrender to Croatia
On 29 May 2007 his lawyer declared that Vasilijkovic was seeking review of the extradition decision.
On 3 February 2009 The Federal Court of Australia dismissed Vasilikovic`s appeal against his extradition to Croatia. The Federal Court therefore rejected Vasiljkovic's claim of bias against him in the earlier hearing and also his claim that he would not get a fair trial in Croatia.
On 2 September 2009 a full bench of Australia's Federal Court granted Vasilijovic's appeal and reversed the extradition decision citing that he had established a "substantial or real chance of prejudice" if he was sent to Croatia for trial.
Vasilijkovic was released on 4 September 2009 after the Croatian government failed to appeal the decision. | |    | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | also known as : | | | Kapetan Dragan, Captain Dragan | | | last time seen : | | | Sydney (Australia) | | | charges : | | | Torture
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 21.02.2010 |
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