Argentina Arrests Croat, 76, Suspected of WWII Crimes

BUENOS AIRES —  Argentine police Thursday arrested Dinko Sakic, a Croatian World War II concentration camp chief wanted for extradition for a war crimes trial, the Argentine government’s anti-racism unit said.

Victor Ramos, head of the government’s Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism, said the 76-year-old had been sought for extradition to his homeland for alleged war crimes stemming from his command of the Jasenovac concentration camp under the Ustashe Nazi regime from 1942 to 1944 during the Second World War.

Ramos said Sakic was arrested at his home on the Atlantic coast and will be questioned by a judge today.

Sakic has lived in Argentina openly for 50 years. His past was revealed during an April 5 television program.

The Argentine authorities moved quickly to try to ensure his extradition after Croatia formally requested it Monday. Ramos said Sakic will be extradited immediately if he does not appeal.

The Jasenovac camp, which Sakic commanded when he was 21, was known as the “Auschwitz of the Balkans.”

The number of Serbs, Gypsies and Jews killed there has long been disputed.

The Serbs say 700,000 died at Jasenovac. Croatia estimates the toll at 85,000.

Speculation that Sakic was on the run was rife after the TV interview and phone calls to his home in Santa Teresita went unanswered in recent weeks.

Coinciding with the arrest of Sakic, Argentina created a special bureau Thursday--the Office of Analysis of Nazi Activities--to track down any remaining Nazi war criminals hiding in a country that was once the refuge of top Nazis such as Adolf Eichmann, Martin Bormann and Josef Mengele.

Ramos said Argentina wants to ensure that there are no more individuals in the country like Sakic and former Nazi Capt. Erich Priebke, who was extradited to Italy in 1995.