Croatia has requested France to extradite former Serb paramilitary Milorad Momic, arrested about ten days ago in southeast France where he had been hiding for years under a false identity, Justice Ministry confirmed on Wednesday.
"The Justice Minister has signed a request for the extradition and the request has been sent along with the necessary documents to the French authorities," Ministry spokeswoman Vesna Dovranic said, adding that there was no time frame within which the French judiciary should decide on the request.
The 47-year-old Momic, a former member of the infamous paramilitary unit "Scorpions", is wanted by the Vukovar County Court on charges of war crimes in eastern Slavonia. The County Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
Momic was arrested near Grenoble on January 31 on a European arrest warrant issued by Serbian authorities which charge him with crimes against humanity and involvement in the killing of around 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
Momic was arrested while on his way to work. He worked for a construction company and hid in France under the false identity of Guy Monier.
He is awaiting a decision on his transfer in extradition custody.
The Scorpions, who were under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, took part in the conflicts in Croatia (1991-1995), Bosnia (1992-1995) and Kosovo (1998-1999).
Four members of those paramilitary forces were convicted by a Serbian court in 2007 to prison sentences of up to 20 years.
One of the Scorpions, Slobodan Davidovic, was sentenced by a Zagreb court in 2005 to 15 years in prison for involvement in the murder of six young Bosniak men, of whom three were minors, in Godinska Bara, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1995, and for the torture of and infliction of serious injuries on Croatian war veteran Zeljko Junacki in Bobovo near the eastern Croatian town of Vinkovci in 1991.
