THESSALONIKI – A 59-year-old Serb national will remain in detention following his arrest on a European warrant issued by Croatian authorities for war crimes, a prosecutor of the Thessaloniki appeals court decided on Monday.

The man was arrested last week at the border station of Evzoni as he was heading for vacation with his family to Platamonas in Pieria, northern Greece.

According to Croatian documents, he is being accused of participating in a military unit that destroyed infrastructure and executed civilians in the Croatian cities of Voćin and Hum in 1991, during the civil war in (former) Yugoslavia. The man denies committing war crimes and insists he was a simple soldier following orders.

The Appeals Council of Thessaloniki will decide soon whether he is to be extradited or not.