Captain Dragan sentenced for war crimes

The district court in the Croatian town of Split today convicted Dragan Vasilkovijqi of war crimes against Croatian soldiers, policemen and civilians, while he was the leader of Serb rebel fighters.

Vasilkovic, 62, who has Australian and Serbian citizenship, was found guilty of crimes at the Kinni fortress in June and July 1991, where Croatian policemen and imprisoned soldiers were abused, as well as during an attack on a police station in the town of Gline and nearby villages in July 1991, resulting in the murder of a civilian and a journalist.

Judge Damir Romac explained that the court found that the guards in Knini's fortress “were subordinates to Vasilkovic” and therefore he could have prevented them from beating and mentally abusing Croatian prisoners and soldiers.

“Although he saw his subordinates act against the law, beating and beating prisoners with their rifles, he failed to prevent this or respond further to these issues,” said Romac.

The judge also stressed how in an incident, Vasilkovic even kicked a prisoner, saying “Let me show you how it's done. ”

Romac also said the court determined that Vasilkovic “personally gave commands” to attack the police region in Glina and its surrounding villages, while some Croatian civilians were still hiding in their homes.

“He ordered a fire fired from all possible weapons, ordering the attacks on buildings of cultural importance and civilian objectives, which ended in a crime against civilians in which two of them were killed,” added Rome.

However, Vasilkovic was acquitted of crimes charges in the village of Bruska, near the town of Benkovac, in February 1993, when two Croatian soldiers were killed.

His lawyer Tomislav Filakovic said they would appeal against the verdict, adding that Vasilkovic “was surprised at the outcome of the trial”.

He was deported to Croatia from Australia in July 2015, where he had lived by the name Daniel Swedden and worked as a golf instructor.

He had moved to Australia at the age of 14, but returned to Yugoslavia before the start of the conflicts of the 1990s and was then sent by authorities to Belgrade to be commander of a training centre for a special Serb paramilitary unit in Croatia in 1991.

He denied committing war crimes and claimed he was not guilty in court.

During his closing statement in court, he condemned the trial as politically motivated and “a fascist oppressive process”.

Vasilkovovic was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but the court will take into account the time he spent in an Australian prison and in a Croatian investigative prison of almost 11 years.

Under Croatian law, all convicts could seek to be released after committing two-thirds of their sentence, which means he could be released soon.

War veteran Ivan Turudiq from the Croatian Association of Prisoners at the Serbian Percentive Camps condemned the decision as too soft.

“It is disappointing to hear that Captain Dragan, Vasilkoviqi, was not sentenced to more years than the number of friends I have buried whose fates he imposed,” said Turudiq.

He said he hoped the Supreme Court would impose the maximum sentence on Vasilkoviqi, who in Croatia is 20 years for war crimes, because he “had seen the amount of evidence against him” while attending the case at the Split court.