Hear interview with Serbian Justice Minister on this subject in Serbian:
(Transcript from World News Radio)
Serbia's Justice Minister says his latest attempt to intervene in the war crimes extradition case of a Belgrade-born Australian man has come at the right moment.
Lawyers for Daniel Snedden are applying to the High Court for another chance to appeal an Australian government decision that could see the 60-year-old sent to Croatia for prosecution.
Croatia claims that during the 1990s war, when Mr Snedden travelled to fight on side of separatist Serbs, he was implicated in multiple counts of war crimes -- including rape and torture.
And as Kristina Kukolja reports, Serbia is hoping a letter sent to Australia's Justice Minister might help Mr Snedden's cause.
Daniel Snedden launched his first legal challenge against extradition in 2006, after then-Attorney General Phillip Ruddock approved Croatia's request.
Mr Snedden maintains he is innocent of the allegations against him.
And he has the backing of the Serbian government and members of the Serbian-Australian community.
Late last year the full Federal Court dismissed his appeal against a more recent ruling by the former Justice Minister Jason Clare, and a return to the High Court could be his last legal option to evade extradition.
A letter from the Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic to his current Australian counterpart Michael Keenan is the latest attempt by Serbia to advocate on Mr Snedden's behalf.
It conveys Serbia's fears that criminal proceedings in Croatia would not be supported by "adequate and sustainable evidence".
Mr Selakovic has told SBS Radio's Serbian language program he's received a reply from the Australian government about Mr Snedden, who while in the Balkans went by the name of Dragan Vasiljkovic.
(Translated)"The reply shows that not all of the legal options available to Mr Vasiljkovic have been exhausted and I think the letter was sent at the right moment. Dragan Vasiljkovic is someone who has potentially spent the longest time in extradition detention. It's not six months, it's not one year. If I am not wrong the extradition is now in its eighth or ninth year. The conditions of his extradition detention are among the strictest in the world. For example, Dragan Vasiljkovic is not permitted to have a paper and pencil in his cell. I mention this as something that is curious. He is detained with people who are suspected of committing serious bloody criminal offences."
After a brief period outside of prison, Daniel Snedden was returned to extradition detention in 2010.
He'd spent weeks on the run from police, and has since been held in Sydney's Parklea prison.
In his letter to the Australian Justice Minister, Serbia's Nikola Selakovic warns that if Daniel Snedden is sent to Croatia, it could provoke what he calls "reactions" within the Australian-Serbian community.
Mr Selakovic was asked by SBS to elaborate.
"If, after such a long process, Dragan Vasiljkovic is extradited, and that's the reaction I witnessed from the Serbian community in Australia, they told me that in conversation with their friends, other Australian citizens, they were told "then anyone could be extradited." The fact that this extradition has lasted for such a long time suggests not everything is running smoothly. The Serbian community (in Australia), of course, has an interest in his case. Captain Dragan had a reputation especially in the Australian-Serbian community because in the 1990s he was a television personality in Serbia, and now someone is trying to cast that reputation in a darker light. Whether or not this is the case can be determined by the judiciary. We doubt, fundamentally, that Croatia's justice system be impartial."
Serbia has offered to launch criminal proceedings against Daniel Snedden.
But Croatia objects to the suggestion, saying it's not within Serbia's jurisdiction and he should be tried on territory where the alleged crimes occurred.
The matter could cause difficulties on Serbia's road to European Union membership.
Croatia has already publicly objected to Serbian legislation that allows it to prosecute war crimes in other former-Yugoslav states.
Mr Selakovic has told SBS, he hopes the issue won't block negotiations over the EU accession chapter which deals with the justice systems of would-be members.
"You are aware that ⦠as part of chapter 23 -- for which an action plan is being completed -- negotiations are continuing between Belgrade and Brussels, that the Justice Minister and all of the other subjects within the Serbian justice system are working hard to ensure chapter 23 is opened as soon as possible. I hope that this will happen in 2015 and that there will be no blocking of the chapter by way of political pre-conditions."
