Croatian Fights Extradition After Arrest on War Crimes Warrant

He was convicted of war crimes in his native Croatia and sentenced to 20 years in his absence. But it was an arrest for shoplifting that brought Milan Spanovic to the attention of the British authorities.

Yesterday, the 44-year-old, who lives in Carshalton, south London, was fighting extradition to the country that convicted him of being part of a Serbian paramilitary unit which burned, looted and terrorised two villages. He is believed to be the first Balkan war criminal found in Britain.

The existence of an international arrest warrant might have remained unnoticed had Sutton police not entered Mr Spanovic's details on their computer. The man accused of stealing from shops had been found guilty of "war crimes against the civilian population".

In August 1991 about 40 members of a Serb gang crashed into the villages of Maja and Svracica and "committed acts of violence and theft". Papers laid before Westminster magistrates court yesterday seeking Mr Spanovic's extradition claim that he was part of the gang and that they opened fire on unarmed villagers.

"The defendants entered the two villages armed with weapons; the civilian populations ... were unarmed; the defendants opened fire; they entered homes, and stole clothes, food, money, electrical equipment and other property; they beat Matijevic Ivo, causing him injury; they burned houses, stables and farming equipment."

The war in Croatia erupted in 1991 when minority Serbs rebelled against Croatia's secession from the former Serb-dominated Yugoslavia. Fighting ended in 1995. Mr Spanovic was convicted in his absence in 1993, along with 18 others, members of a Serbian paramilitary gang. An arrest warrant was issued in 1995.

Mr Spanovic's lawyers say he did not know of the trial in Croatia and did not intentionally miss it. When the case returns to court on November 9 for a full extradition hearing, his defence team will say their biggest concern is that on his return to Croatia he would not receive the retrial to which he is entitled.