Vasiljkovic’s charity for war crimes under fire
Australia’s most infamous convicted war criminal, Captain Dragan Vasiljkovic, has established a charity foundation to help Serbians accused of war crimes.
The former Perth golf instructor also known as Daniel Snedden was extradited to Croatia in 2015 on charges he led a paramilitary force He was convicted and having served 13½ years in jail, including the time he spent in detention in Australia, was released last year to then establish the “Dragan Vasiljkovic Foundation” to help Serbian war crimes suspects.
It has been confirmed the foundation has a new headquarters in the city of Subotica in northern Serbia. Local politicians have condemned the move and questioned how a criminal could be allowed to do this. War crimes suspects tend to flee Australia either when they are exposed, their visa expires or they face charges and potential extradition. Sydney man Zoran Tadic fled Australia in 2019 after Croatian authorities moved to extradite him on allegations he was a commander suspected of involvement in the massacre of 30 Skabrnja civilians.
“The process against Zoran Tadic still goes on,” the Ministry of Justice in Zagreb said, although it conceded proceedings through the County Court in Split had been delayed due to Covid-19 movement restrictions.
In 2019, Tadic, speaking from his home in Loznica in western Serbia, denied the allegations and told local media: “I feel sorry for Skabrnja, of course, then and now, for everything that happened there. I feel sorry for every innocent life lost, because life is sacred to me.”
On the question of further Bosnia war suspects in Australia, the Croatian embassy in Canberra said: “The government of the Republic of Croatia continues to take all efforts aimed at bringing the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity to justice. In those efforts, we work closely with relevant authorities in all jurisdictions where suspected or convicted offenders may reside.”