Today the defence and the prosecution presented their arguments before a seven-judge Supreme Court panel. Croatia wants Vasiljkovic for war crimes.
The defence claimed that Vasiljkovic's detention violated the Australian Constitution because he was in custody with convicts, whereas the prosecution claimed that the conditions of detention were irrelevant for the legality of detention. The defence also called for considering evidence on Vasiljkovic's alleged guilt before deciding on the extradition, something which existing procedure does not allow.
If the Supreme Court decided that Vasiljkovic, aka Captain Dragan, should be extradited, his case will be returned to the New South Wales District Court. If the latter approves the extradition, the final decision will be made by Justice Minister Chris Ellison.
A former commander of Serb paramilitary troops and now an Australian citizen, Vasiljkovic was arrested in Sydney on January 20 on an international warrant issued by Croatia. Croatia officially requested Australia to extradite him in early February.
The County Prosecutor's Office in Sibenik charged Vasiljkovic with breaches of the Geneva Conventions. He is suspected of torturing and killing captive Croatian soldiers and police in Knin in June and July 1991, and in Bruska near Benkovac in February 1993.
He is also suspected of devising, in agreement with a Yugoslav People's Army tank unit commander, a plan to attack and seize the police station in Glina, its suburb of Jukinac, and the villages of Gornji Vidusevac and Donji Vidusevac. During the attack, civilian buildings were demolished, the population was forced to flee, their property was plundered, and civilians were killed and wounded, including a foreign reporter.