[JURIST] Antun Gudelj, a Croatian man convicted in 1994 of murdering three police officials who were trying to negotiate with Serb rebels opposed to Croatian independence in 1991, was extradited from Australia to Croatia on Sunday. Gudelj, who maintains he acted alone despite popular suspicion that he acted in concert with Croatian nationalist and former President Franjo Tudejman [BBC profile], was pardoned in 1997 by a general amnesty but faces new proceedings after the Croatian Constitutional Court [official website] ordered a new trial in 2001. The killing preceded and contributed to the start of the 1991-1995 Croatian War of Independence [Wikipedia backgrounder].

Croatian trials of war crimes suspects are part of the country's bid to become a member of the European Union [EU materials]. In March 2005, the EU suspended entry talks [JURIST report] on the grounds that Croatia was failing to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website]. The entry talks were resumed later in October 2005 after the ICTY declared that Croatia was fully cooperating with the ICTY [JURIST report]. AP has more. AAP has local coverage.