Swiss extradite Serb nurse accused of war crimes
Switzerland has extradited to Croatia a female Serb nurse who had been sentenced for war crimes in absentia.
Zorana Banic, 49, landed at Zagreb airport on a regular flight from Zurich on Friday, after she was taken into custody by Swiss police acting on an international warrant two weeks ago.
Banic was found guilty in 1998 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence for such crimes in Croatia, for taking part in the slaughter of 43 Croat civilians in the village of Skabrnja 10 years ago.
The incident happened when Serb rebels, who opposed Croatia’s independence, raided the Croat village near the Adriatic city of Zadar during the 1991-95 Balkan war. The victims were mostly women and the elderly.
War crimes
Banic will be taken to Zadar, where she will be placed in custody pending investigations and arraignment before a local judge. She is among only a handful of women who have been charged with war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.
Banic is entitled to a re-trial and Croatian authorities agreed to reopen her case before Switzerland approved her extradition.
Croatia tried more than a dozen Serbs, including Banic and another woman, for the atrocity. All but one were tried in absentia, having fled Croatia when government troops ended their rebellion and recaptured their territory in 1995.
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.