Swiss await extradition request for Croatian war criminal

Investigators find mass graves from the Croatia conflict in 1999 Keystone Archive

The Swiss authorities are awaiting an extradition request from Croatia, after arresting a fugitive Serb nurse convicted of helping to massacre civilians.

Croatia confirmed on Friday that it would seek the extradition of Zorana Banic, as soon as it received complete files on her case from a court in Zadar, which tried her in absentia in 1998.

Banic was arrested at Zurich airport on Thursday on an international warrant issued by Zagreb.

She was sentenced to 20 years in jail for her role in the slaughter of 43 Croatians – mainly women and elderly people – who were shot or run over by tanks after rebel Serb attackers took over the village of Skarbnja, near the Adriatic port of Zadar.

It was not immediately clear whether the 49-year-old would be re-tried or sent back to serve out her prison term.

Croatia tried more than a dozen Serbs for the atrocity, but all except one were tried in absentia, having fled Croatia when Zagreb troops crushed their rebellion and recaptured their territory in 1995.

The Serb minority in Croatia rebelled against Croatia’s drive for independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and won control of a third of the country in the three regions with the help of the Yugoslav army. The rebels expelled the local Croat population and proclaimed their own state on the seized territory.

swissinfo with agencies