[JURIST] Efraim Zuroff, a director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center [advocacy website], urged Serbia on Wednesday to request the extradition [press release] of Ivo Rojnica and Milivoj Asner [Wikipedia profile], two Croatian-born men accused of committing atrocities against Jews, Serbs and Gypsies during World War II. As part of Operation: Last Chance [advocacy website], an initiative committed to bringing elderly Nazi war criminals to trial before they die, Zuroff met with Serb President Boris Tadic [official website] and other Serb Justice Ministry [official website] officials to urge Serbia to bring the two men to trial. Zuroff argues that Serbia could prosecute Rojnica and Asner even though they are not Serbian citizens because some of their alleged victims were Serbian.

Zuroff believes that Rojnica lives in Buenes Aires, Argentina and that Asner lives in Austria. Asner was indicted [OLC press release] by the Croatian government last year for crimes against humanity, but Austria refused to grant extradition because Asner has Austrian citizenship. In February, Zuroff condemned Austria [JURIST report] for failing to prosecute former Nazi war criminals, saying that the country had become a "paradise" for fugitives. AP has more.