The High Court has ordered the surrender of D.S. to Croatia, where he is sought for prosecution over an alleged war crime against prisoners of war in November 1991. The order followed the court’s consideration of objections under the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003; it is not a finding that the alleged offence occurred.
The European arrest warrant was issued by a Croatian court and received in Ireland in April 2014. The allegation is that, while serving in a Yugoslav National Army military police reserve unit, D.S. assaulted and threatened prisoners at locations in what is now Serbia. D.S. denied ill-treating or harming prisoners.
The court found that the warrant showed the alleged offence took place outside Croatia. It held that section 44 did not bar surrender because Irish law provided for extraterritorial jurisdiction over the alleged grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. The judge also held that the relevant date for assessing Ireland’s jurisdiction was the hearing of the surrender application.
D.S. argued that surrender would disproportionately interfere with his family and private life. He had lived in Ireland with family members and had a young daughter here, whom he saw regularly and supported. The judge acknowledged the effect surrender would have on the relationship, but found no evidence of particularly severe consequences beyond those that may accompany extradition. The court gave weight to the public interest in prosecuting alleged war crimes and rejected the Article 8 objection.
The court also rejected claims that D.S. faced a real risk of a flagrantly unfair trial in Croatia because of his Serbian ethnicity, and that he might be prosecuted retrospectively. It found the material presented did not establish the required risk on either ground. The judge further held that the alleged conduct corresponded to an offence under Ireland’s Geneva Conventions Act.
Having found the statutory requirements for surrender met, the High Court directed that D.S. be surrendered to a person authorised by Croatia to receive him. The judgment does not determine his guilt; the warrant seeks his surrender for prosecution.