Australian ‘Captain Dragan’ found guilty of war crimes

A former Australian army reservist who tortured police and killed civilians in the Balkans War has been found guilty of war crimes.

Dragan Vasiljkovic, known in the Balkans as Captain Dragan, moved to Australia from Serbia when he was 14 years old, was a captain of a Serbian paramilitary and ally of Yugoslav dictator Slobodan Milosevic.

The 63-year-old was found guilty of war crimes on Wednesday after being extradited from Australia to his native country in 2015. 

He was sentenced to 15 years in jail, but may walk free in a matter of months after already spending nine years in detention in Sydney and two years in Croatia.

 

Dragan Vasiljkovic (pictured center) was found guilty of war crimes on Wednesday after being extradited from Australia to his native country in 2015

Dragan Vasiljkovic, known in the Balkans as Captain Dragan was a captain of a Serbian paramilitary and ally of Yugoslav dictator Slobodan Milosevic

Dragan Vasiljkovic, known in the Balkans as Captain Dragan was a captain of a Serbian paramilitary and ally of Yugoslav dictator Slobodan Milosevic

The Balkans War in the 1990s claimed the lives of more than 140,000 people

The Balkans War in the 1990s claimed the lives of more than 140,000 people

Vasiljkovic, who changed his name to Daniel Snedden when he arrived in Australia, spent four years in the Army Reserve at the suggestion of a judge after his troubled childhood.

He joined the fighting in the 1990s, which eventually became a genocide in the self-declared Serbian republic of Krajina, where he tortured and beat Serbian police, and commanded forces that were responsible for the destruction of Croatian villages and the deaths of two civilians.

He was found not guilty of the murder of two Croatian soldiers in 1993 in Bruska, a village in the center of the country.

Vasiljkovic joined the fighting in the 1990s where he tortured and beat Serbian police, and commanded forces that were responsible for the destruction of Croatian villages

The war became a genocide in the self-declared Serbian republic of Krajin

The war became a genocide in the self-declared Serbian republic of Krajin

More than 140,000 people are believed to have lost their lives during the war

More than 140,000 people are believed to have lost their lives during the war

Vasiljkovic reportedly showed no emotion as the ruling was handed down. More than 140,000 people are believed to have lost their lives during the war.

Vasiljkovic returned to Australia as Snedden in 2004, where he worked as a golf instructor in Perth until his arrest in 2005. He spent nine years in detention appealing extradition attempts.

He was transported to a prison in Split in 2015, and the judge will take into account the time he served there and in Australia into his sentence.

It is likely Vasiljkovic will walk free within the coming months as it is customary in Croatia for prisoners to be released after completing two-thirds of their jail time.

Vasiljkovic reportedly showed no emotion as the ruling was handed down

Vasiljkovic reportedly showed no emotion as the ruling was handed down

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk