A court in the Croation town of Split has begun trying the former Serb commander, also known as Captain Dragan and Daniel Snedden.

Proceedings in Split began with a reading of the indictment. Vasiljkovic (pictured above, center) has been accused of killing and tormenting Croatian soldiers captured during the 1991-1995 war of secession from former Yugoslavia.

Prosecutors were expected to present 55 witnesses in the coming months of the trial, Croatia's official news agency HINA said. If found guilty, Vasiljkovic could face up to 20 years in prison.

Speaking at the trial on Tuesday, the 61-year-old denied the charges. "I'm proud of my warpath… I am neither an aggressor nor a war criminal. I'm a defender of my homeland Yugoslavia."

Vasiljkovic was born in Serbia and moved to Australia when he was 15. Later, he returned to the Balkans to train Croatian Serb rebels fighting their country's secession from Yugoslavia. He pulled out from the Belgrade-backed war before it ended and fled back to Australia, where he was kept in custody for 15 months before being deported to Croatia for the trial.

mg/msh (dpa, AP)