FORMER SERB COMMANDER 'CAPTAIN DRAGAN' JAILED FOR WAR CRIMES
FORMER SERB COMMANDER 'CAPTAIN
DRAGAN' JAILED FOR WAR CRIMES
Dragan Vasiljkovic, also known
as "Captain Dragan",
was convicted of torturing prisoners and a deadly attack on a village during
the Croatian war of independence in the early 1990s.
He had been living
in Australia prior to his extradition to Croatia in 2015.
Vasiljkovic, 62,
was convicted by a court in the town of Split on Tuesday.
The court heard
that Vasiljkovic had directed his subordinates to torture captured Croat
soldiers in a makeshift prison he had set up in the rebel Serb stronghold of
Knin.
He was also found
guilty of orchestrating an attack on the town of Glina which killed two
civilians and forced others to flee their homes.
Vasiljkovic was
acquitted of the 1993 torture and murder of two Croat soldiers in another
village.
During the year-long trial, witnesses told the court
of the abuse they had suffered at the hands of Vasiljkovic and his unit.
The former
commander has maintained his innocence, calling the trial an "oppressive
fascist process".
Vasiljkovic moved
to Australia in 1969 and later spent four years in the nation's army reserves
before being courted by Serbian intelligence chiefs, The Australianreported.
He was arrested in
Australia in 2006, where he had been working as a golf instructor under the
name Daniel Snedden.
Vasiljkovic fought
for almost a decade to prevent his extradition from Australia, arguing he would
not receive a fair trial in Croatia.
His lawyers have
said they will appeal the sentence.
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