BRITAIN:Milan Spanovic, a Croatian Serb who has been convicted in absentia in Croatia of war crimes, won a legal battle yesterday to stay in Britain.
Judge Timothy Workman told a court in London it was so long since the alleged offences took place there were doubts about whether Mr Spanovic would receive a fair retrial if extradited.
Mr Spanovic (44) was accused of torturing and shooting civilians, pillage and arson in 1991, during the conflict which followed Croatia's declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia.
He was tried in absentia by a Croatian court and sentenced in 1993 to 20 years for war crimes.