Zagreb: A Croatian court on Tuesday sentenced an Australian citizen and former Serbian paramilitary commander to 15 years in prison for torturing and killing soldiers and civilians during Croatia's 1991-95 independence war.

Dragan Vasiljkovic, 62, who has dual Serbian and Australian citizenship, was charged with violating the Geneva Convention by torturing and killing captive Croatian soldiers and police in the rebel stronghold of Knin and for crimes near the towns of Glina and Benkovac in 1991 and 1993.

Dragan Vasiljkovic, center, sits between two guards in a courtroom at the beginning of his trial. Credit:AP

He was found guilty after a year-long trial looking into his torturing of prisoners and an attack on a police precinct during an ethnic Serb uprising.

The trial, which was held in the Adriatic city of Split, took one year to complete. Vasiljkovic denied he had committed any crimes insisting that the trial was "political" and can file an appeal.