'Indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial is anathema in any country which observes the rule of law' - Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead (2004)

 

Imagine yourself being imprisoned for almost nine years, without any charges, convictions or any evidence against you. Now, imagine that you are an Australian citizen in Sydney and you are sitting alone in a cell in a maximum security prison! This however, is not an imaginary story, this is Daniel Snedden's reality.

 Who is Daniel Snedden?

 Daniel Snedden is a 59 year old who migrated to Australia in 1969 from Serbia as a teenager with his family, becoming an Australian citizen. He was born Dragan Vasiljkovic. As a young citizen, Mr Snedden served in the Australian Army Reserve. He is a highly skilled pilot, golfer and passionate photographer.

 In 1991, Mr Snedden was running his own charter flight business in Yugoslavia, when war broke out in Krajina between Croatian and Serbian populations. Consequently, he was approached by members of the government of Serbian Krajina to assist in arranging a military defence to protect civilians from attacks of aggression. The best form of defence was to get better training, and he laid out a full training manual, and facility which he ran for approximately one year. He became known by the name of ‘Captain Dragan’. Regarded as a hero to many, Mr Snedden established the largest humanitarian foundation in Eastern Europe, ‘The Captain Dragan Foundation’, to deliver aid to all victims of the war in Yugoslavia irrespective of their ethnicity or religious status.

 Why has Daniel Snedden Been Imprisoned?

 Despite his strictly ethical and humanitarian approach to the Yugoslavian conflict, Snedden has been subject to defamatory allegations.

 Mr Snedden's plight began in 2005 when a highly defamatory article was published on the front page of The Australian, titled 'Serbian Death Squad commander alive and well and teaching golf in Perth'. Mr Snedden decided to take civil action against  Murdoch media cartel. Proceedings were due to begin in February, 2006  however they were brought to a rude halt.

 On the 19th of January, 2006 Mr Snedden, was arrested and imprisoned in Sydney due to an extradition request from Croatia for the purpose of questioning.  While in fact this warrant is for questioning only, the Croatian government refuses to come to question this Australian citizen on Australian soil. Instead, they persist with pursuing extradition claims and appeals in the Australian court system, inflicting financial burden on both Mr Snedden and Australian tax-payers. 

This request for extradition was made despite the fact that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia formally declared that Mr Snedden is not a person of interest for the prosecution after conducting extensive interrogation.

 It is also interesting to note that there was no interest in Mr Snedden's so called 'war crimes' until he filed a law suit against The Australian, furthermore, that Murdoch's media cartel and the Croatian government are being represented by the same legal team !

 Why is this situation wrong?

 Since 2006, Mr Snedden has been forced to assume the status of Australia’s only political prisoner. This is an outrage for various reasons.  

 Firstly, the Australian government and judiciary, under the Australian Extradition Act 1988 (Cth), has not required that the Croatian government provide a single piece of evidence to substantiate their request. In other words, the Australian government is in a position to hand over any Australian citizen at the drop of a hat to any country under the Extradition Act. Furthermore, Mr. Snedden is not allowed to present evidence of his innocence during proceedings in Australian courts due to the 'no evidence' rule. Evidence has been deemed as obsolete by the law and judiciary in this process !

 Secondly, procedural unfairness has denied Mr Snedden the most basic rights that he is entitled to as a citizen. Everyone is entitled to due process under domestic and international law. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states ‘Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention’.  Yet, Mr Snedden has been forced to assume the status of a guilty man, spending almost 9 years in prison, without charges and with no evidence against him. He is currently spending his days in maximum security at Parklea Correctional Centre amongst convicted murderers, mass murderers and rapists. This is unjust. In September 2013, Judge Davies of the Federal Court of Melbourne affirmed this, stating that Mr Snedden has not been treated fairly throughout this process. Mr Snedden serving almost 9 years in detention without charge is indeed unfair and arbitrary.

 Thirdly, Mr Snedden will not receive a fair trial should the Australian Government enforce Croatia’s extradition request. In September 2009, the Full Federal Court of Australia affirmed this by way of verdict. Furthermore, Human Rights Watch reported in 2002 that 83% of all ethnic Serbs tried for alleged war crimes in Croatia’s domestic judicial system were convicted, in contrast, only 18% of Croatians were convicted in Serbian courts. Recently, the use of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was banned in certain towns of Croatia. Yet the High Court of Australia overturned the Full Federal Court's decision. How can we allow Mr Snedden, an Australian with Serbian origins, to stand trial in modern day Croatia and expect a fair outcome?

 Daniel Snedden's family and supporters urge you to sign the petition to demand that the relevant authorities:

 

• ·         Immediately release Daniel Snedden from Parklea Correctional Centre
• ·         Quash Croatia's extradition request based on the reasons above stated

 

This is the first time that Australia has had to deal with such a situation. It is situations like these that determine how others will be treated in the future. Should the Croatian government succeed,  Australians and their rights will lose out. Any Australian could be next !