War crimes suspect extradited to Croatia

ZAGREB, Croatia

Milan Španović, accused on committing war crimes in 1991 in the Glina area, has been extradited to Croatia, media in that country say. According to this, he arrived in Croatia on a flight from Britain accompanied by British police and is now in the Sisak prison.

In 1994, Španović was sentenced to 20 years in prison in absentia. The media reports say that it was unknown for a long time where Španović was hiding, until he was detained for theft in 2006, after which courts determined that he was on an Interpol notice. 

Four months ago a court in London accepted Croatian guarantees that Španović will have a retrial, that it will be just, and that he will not be discriminated against based on his ethnicity.

The Croatian judiciary allows for retrials in cases that saw defendants convicted in absentia.

Španović has appealed the London court decision to the European Court of Human Rights.