The Australian court has requested through international legal assistance the questioning of five Croatian witnesses within its efforts to establish the role of Vasiiljkovic, also known as Captain Dragan, who commanded Serb paramilitaries, during Croatia's war of independence.
Jukic said that after his arrest in Udbina he was detained in Knin Fortress and later transferred in the Stara Bolnica camp. He identified Vasiljkovic as the man who ordered all of that.
A protected witness is expected to testify in this case from Zagreb on Thursday, and the questioning of other witnesses will continue on Monday and Tuesday, Zagreb lawyer Visnja Drenski Lasan, who is cooperating with lawyers of the Australian publisher in this case, told Hina on Wednesday afternoon.
County prosecutors in the Croatian coastal city of Sibenik have charged Vasiljkovic with violations of the Geneva Conventions in his capacity as commander of Serb paramilitaries.
Captain Dragan, an Australian citizen who now goes by Daniel Snedden, was arrested in Sydney on January 20, 2006 following an international arrest warrant issued by Croatia. He has been in a maximum security prison since.
The Australian Federal Court has rejected Vasiljkovic's appeal against the decision to extradite him to Croatia, which wants him on suspicion of involvement in war crimes against Croatian civilians, soldiers and prisoners of war.
Vasiljkovic appealed the 2007 ruling by the New South Wales District Court that found him fit for extradition, but Judge Dennis Cowdroy dismissed the appeal, saying there were no obstacles to his extradition.
Under Australia's Extradition Act of 1998, Vasiljkovic may file three appeals to different courts.
In his private defamation action against the Nationwide News, some witnesses have already appeared before the NSW Supreme Court, accusing Vasiljkovic of committing war crimes in Croatia in the early 1990s, according to Australian media.
Velibor Bracic, a former Croatian policeman, told the court on Tuesday that while imprisoned at Knin Fortress in 1991 he was regularly beaten by Serb guards and that on one occasion he was savagely attacked by Vasiljkovic himself.
Bracic said he was assaulted by Vasiljkovic just after the paramilitary commander had watched two guards attack him.
"If you are beating him, this is how it is done," Captain Dragan allegedly said before kicking Bracic in the face several times, The Australian reported.
Bracic suffered serious injuries and lost 27 kg during his two-month incarceration at Knin fortress.
On one occasion, guards took a bear into the prison and, as a form of punishment, made the prisoners kiss the animal's backside, Bracic told the court in Sydney.
Some of the prisoners begged Captain Dragan to stop the maltreatment because they could not take it anymore. Asked by the judge if the violence subsequently stopped, Bracic said: "On the contrary, the beatings became even worse."
He also said that some prisoners were sexually assaulted, while others had their genitals attached to live electric wiring.