Dutch police took less than a week to track down alleged war criminal Daniel Snedden who had evaded arrest in Australia for more than 40 days. Last night’s Lateline program detailed how the Australian Federal Police (AFP) contacted their Dutch counterparts a week ago because they thought Daniel Snedden, otherwise known as Dragan Vasiljkovic, may have fled to the Netherlands. read on>>

He had been on the run since March when the High Court ordered the former Serbian paramilitary leader be extradited to Croatia to face war crimes charges.

Dutch police quickly launched an investigation and tracked Snedden down in Australia.

A spokesman for the Dutch National Prosecutors Office, Wim De Bruin, says they tipped off the AFP and Snedden was arrested on the New South Wales mid-north coast on Wednesday night.

“You can’t say it was that difficult and that it took a long time,” he said.

“Things happened very quickly… the moment Dutch police tracked him down in Australia the information was given to Australian police.

“I think the contribution of the Dutch National Police was essential in the Australian investigation.”

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor said he would make a decision about Snedden’s extradition “as soon as is reasonably practicable”.

Serbian-born Snedden will have a chance to appeal the extradition order but will be held in prison until a determination is made.

He claims his political beliefs would mean he would be dealt with unfairly in Croatia.

Nicknamed ‘Captain Dragan’, Snedden is accused of torturing, raping and murdering civilians and prisoners of war while he was a Serbian paramilitary commander during the Balkan conflict.

He denies the allegations.

This entry was posted on vrijdag, mei 14th, 2010 at 5:53 am and is filed under Aussie In The News, Misdaad, World on the Dutch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.