(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
Australia looks set, for the first time, to extradite one of its citizens to face prosecution overseas over alleged war crimes.
The High Court has refused Perth man Daniel Snedden leave to appeal against being sent to Croatia, after close to a decade of legal challenges across Australian courts.
And as Kristina Kukolja reports, the decision could have important implications for any Australian citizens travelling to participate in overseas conflicts.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
Croatia first requested Daniel Snedden's extradition in 2005, alleging that as a commander of an ethnic Serb paramilitary group during the 1990s Croatian war, he was involved in three counts of alleged war crimes.
A dual Australian-Serbian citizen, he was then known as Dragan Vasiljkovic, or Captain Dragan.
The High Court has now rejected the final appeal by the 60-year-old against extradition.
The Federal Court last year upheld an Australian government order to have him sent to Croatia to face the allegations against him.
The Croatian Consul General in Melbourne Dubravko Belavic has issued a statement to SBS following the High Court decision.
It says: "We are grateful to the Australian justice system and await the date of Mr Snedden's extradition to Croatia."
Other than briefly evading Australian Federal Police in 2010, Mr Snedden has spent much of the past decade in extradition detention.
His Australian-based lawyer Dan Mori says his team is now seeking assurances from the Australian government that Mr Snedden will be given proper treatment, if the federal government decides to send him to Croatia.
"His fate rests with the Justice Minister, Mr (Michael) Keenan, and we've asked him to ensure that Mr Snedden gets day for day credit for the almost nine years that he's spent in detention. I think any Australian would want that for their family member, if they're going to be sent overseas, that they get credit for the time they spent here in the process. We're concerned with his safety. The United Nations Human Rights Committee just came out last month with a report of the overcrowding in Croatian prisons, of the lack of healthcare being provided. And so that's a serious issue that we're looking to get the minister to get an assurance from Croatia that Mr Snedden will get credit for the time he served in detention and would be properly treated."
Dan Mori says a trial in Croatia will at least give his client a chance to defend his name.
"This also provides Mr Snedden, if he does go, the first opportunity to really challenge the actual allegations against him. We've arranged for Croatian lawyers to be prepared for this. We've obtained part of the Croatian case file after speaking with them. They say it appears to be a weak case. But this will be the first time it'll actually be tested in court. The real question now, looking forward, is if Mr Snedden does go, will his lawyers be given the proper time to prepare? Will they get proper access to him in the prison system? Because that's a big issue."
Croatia's extradition request is based on allegations linking Daniel Snedden to alleged war crimes against non-Serb prisoners and civilian populations.
He has yet to be formally charged, and is wanted for questioning, and subsequently prosecution.
Mr Mori says Mr Snedden's experience reveals, what he feels are, are flaws in Australia's extradition system.
"Australia, in protecting its citizens, you would hope would require some country to provide some evidence that you did something wrong abroad. There's eight million Australians who travel overseas every year, and the extradition process that Australia has set up provides no protection requiring any country to provide some evidence. That's the extradition system here and it's, I think, a strong flaw when you think about how an Australian should be protected."
In a statement to SBS, the federal Attorney General's Department says it does not comment on the timing or logistics for the surrender of people being extradited.
It says this is to ensure the safety of all persons involved and to uphold the integrity of the surrender process.
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