INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
CASE CONCERNING APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE
PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT OF THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE
(CROATIA v. SERBIA)
COUNTER-MEMORIAL
SUBMITTED BY THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA
ANNEXES
Volume III
December 2009 VOLUME III
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION III: Maps ........................................................................
9.................................
Map no 1: The Habsburg Military Krajina, 1792, in J.R. LampY e,ugoslavia as History:
Twice There was a Country, Cambridge, 2000, p.19 ..........................11....
Map no. 2: The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, DI Cartography Center,
reprinted in Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Balkan Battlegrounds:
A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict 1990-1995 .....................15.....
Map no. 3: Ethnic Composition in the Former Yugoslavia, 1991, DI Cartography Center,
reprinted in Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Balkan Battlegrounds:
A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict 1990-1995 .....................19.....
Map no. 4: Serb Population in the Croatian Municipalities, 1991, in N. Baric,
Serbian Rebellion in Croatia 1991-1995 (Srpska pobuna u Hrvatskoj
1991-1995.), Zagreb, 2005, p. 40 ..........................................23...................
Map no. 5: The RSK Municipalities, in N. BarSice,rbian Rebellion in Croatia 1991-1995
(Srpska pobuna u Hrvatskoj 1991-1995.), Zagreb, 2005, p. 174 ..............27
Map no. 6: UN Forces in Croatia, Early 1995, DI Cartography Center, reprinted
in Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Balkan Battlegrounds:
A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict 1990-1995 .....................31.....
SECTION IV: Selection of the Relevant RSK Documents ......................................35....
Annex 13: Statute of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina, Basic Provisions,
reprinted in S. Radulović, Sudbina Krajine, 1996, p. 140 ..................37.....
Annex 14: Resolution on the Separation of the Republic of Croatia and the Serbian
Autonomous Region of KrajinaK , rajina Journa, Official Gazette of the
Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina and Municipalities of Benkovac,
Donji Lapac, Gračac, Knin, Korenica and Obrovac, no. 1/1991, paras. 1-3 ..... 43
Annex 15: Decision on the Promulgation of the Statute of the Serbian Autonomous Region
of Krajina by the Constitutional Law of the Serbian Autonomous Region
of Krajina,Krajina Journal, Official Gazette of the Serbian Autonomous
Region of Krajina and Municipalities of Benkovac, Donji Lapac,
Gračac, Knin, Korenica and Obrovac, no. 4/1991 ............................47.......
3Annex 16: Decision on the Creation of Specialized Units of the Ministry of Interior of the
Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina called “Krajina Police” that will
beunder the Authority of the Ministry of Defense, Krajina Journal,
Official Gazette of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina
and Municipalities of Benkovac, Donji Lapac, Gračac, Knin,
Korenica and Obrovac, no. 4/1991, Art. 2 ........................................51..............
Annex 17: Decision on the Implementation of the Law on Defence of the Republic of Serbia
in the Territory of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina, Krajina
Journal, Official Gazette of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina
and Municipalities of Benkovac, Donji Lapac, Gračac, Knin, Korenica
and Obrovac, no. 4/1991, no. 8/1991, Art. 5 ................................55............
Annex 18: Declaration on the Sovereign Self-rule of the Serbian People of Slavonia,
Baranja and Western Syrmicum, Official Gazette of the Serbian Region
of Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmicum, no. 1/1991, paras. 6 & 7 ........... 59
Annex 19: Constitution of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, Official Gazette of the Republic
of Serbian Krajina, no.1/1992, Articles nos. 1, 8, 78, 102 .................63......
Annex 20: Amendment VIII, Official Gazetteto hfe Republic of Serbian Krajina, no.9/1992 ... 73
Annex 21: Law on Amendments to the Law on Defence, Official Gazette
of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, no.9/1992, Article 1 ...................77.....
Annex 22: Amendments XII – XIV, Official Gazette of the Republic
of Serbian Krajina, no.2/1993 ..............................................81....................
SECTION V: Selection of the Relevant SFRY Documents ........................................... 87
Annex 23: Agreements of the SFRY concluded in the Second Part of 1991: ................... 89
Tab. 1: Agreement between the Federal Executive Council of the Assembly
of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Government
of the United States of America concerning the Program of the United
States Peace Corps in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
dated 1 July 1991 ..........................................................91.............
...............
Tab. 2: METAP Grant Agreement (Environment Management Project) between
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, dated 4 October 1991, and the Facsimile
Cover Sheet with Message from the World Bank/IFC/M.I.G.A.
dated 11 October 1991 ...........................................................97............
...............
4 Tab. 3: Protocol between the Federal Executive Council of the Assembly of the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Government of Romania
on Trade in Goods and Services, dated 27 November 1991 ...................... 113
Annex 24: Exchange of Ambassadors, late 1991- early 1992: .......................................... 119
Tab. 1: Letter from Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the USSR
to the Presidency of the SFRY, dated 5 November 1991 ........................... 123
Tab. 2: Letter from Mr. Soeharto, President of Indonesia,
to the Presidency of the SFRY dated 15 January 1992 .............................. 129
Tab.3: Letter from Mr. Bamako, President of Mali to the Presidency
of the SFRY dated 18 January 1992 ........................................................... 133
Tab. 4: Letter from Mr. Ishaq Khan, President of the Islamic Republic
of Pakistan to the Presidency of the SFRY dated 30 January 1992 ........... 139
th
Annex 25: Minute of the 127 Meeting of Members of the Presidency
of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia held on 18 July 1991 .......... 147
Annex 26: Letter of Mr. Stjepan Meć sito the SFRY Presidency dated 9 January 1992 ............ 157
Annex 27: Excerpt from the Transcript of the 31 session of the Sobranije
of the Republic of Macedonia held on 10 January 1992 ............................ 165
Annex 28: Decision of the Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs concerning
the Retirement of Mr. Budislav Lončar, Federal Secretary
for Foreign Affairs dated 7 February 1992 ................................................ 173
Annex 29: Borisav Jović, Last Days of the SFRY: Excerpts from a Diary (Poslednji dani
SFRY, izvodi iz dnevnika), Belgrade, 1989, pp. 402, 411 & 420. ............. 179
Annex 30: Letter of the Ministry of Defence addressed to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Serbia dated 18 November 2009 ...................... 187
Annex 31: JNA, Operation Group South Command, Decision for Continuation
of Assault Operation Vukovar, Strictly Confidential no. 235-1 dated
29 October 1991 .........................................................................
................ 195
SECTION VI: War Crime Trials in Croatia .................................................................. 207
Annex 32: OSCE Mission to Croatia, Background report: domestic war crime trials 2005,
dated 13 September 2006, p. 29 ................................................................. 209
Annex 33: District Court of Sisak, Velemir case, Judgment of 26 September 1996 ......... 215
Annex 34: Federal Court of Australia, Snedden case, Appeal Judgment
of 2 September 2009 .........................................................................
......... 223
5SECTION VII: Documents related to the Activities of the Commission for Missing
Persons of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ...................... 249
Annex 35: Minutes of the Meeting between the Office of the Commissioner for Detained
and Missing Persons of the Government of the Republic of Croatia
and the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government
of the Republic of Serbia held in Zagreb on 30 June 2009 ........................ 251
SECTION VIII: Documents related to the Crimes committed against the Serbs
in Croatia 1991-1995 ........................................................................
...... 263
Annex 36: Martin Špegelj, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Croatia,
Soldier’s Memory (Sjećanja vojnika), Zagreb, 2001, p. 288, table IV:
Weapons purchased in the organization of the Ministry of Defence
of the Republic of Croatia between 5 October 1990 and 15 January 1991 ....... 265
Annex 37: Examples of Attacks on the Serbs in Croatian Towns 1990-1991 according
to the Croatian Press .........................................................................
.......... 271
Annex 38: Centre for Peace, Non-Violance and Human Rights Osijek, Croatia,
Monitoring war crime trials: War crime in Osijek ..................................... 297
Annex 39: Centre for Peace, Non-Violance and Human Rights Osijek, Croatia,
Monitoring war crime trials: Crime in Paulin Dvor ................................... 309
Annex 40: Centre for Peace, Non-Violance and Human Rights Osijek, Croatia,
Monitoring war crime trials: The war crime in Marino Selo ..................... 315
Annex 41: District Court of Rijeka, Orešković et al. case, Judgment of 24 March 2003
(Excerpt) ......................................................................
............................... 321
Annex 42: Amnesty International, A shadow on Croatia's future:
Continuing impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity ........... 333
Annex 43: Nebojša Taraba, Most of them floated down the Sava, Split, 1993 .................. 339
Annex 44: First Municipal court in Belgrade, Minutes of Witness Hearing
of Milanče Tošić dated 19 February 2002 (Lora case) .............................. 345
Annex 45: First Municipal court in Belgrade, Minutes of Witness Hearing
of Vojkan Živković dated 19 February 2002 (Lora case) .......................... 359
Annex 46: NGO “Veritas”, List of the Killed or Missing Members of the RSK Territorial
Defense at the Miljevci Plateau .................................................................. 371
6Annex 47: Statement of Nikola Nadoveza, given to the Serbian Army of Krajina
on 21 November 1993, reprinted in “VeritasM,iljevci,available from
http://www.veritas.org.rs/publikacije/Miljevci/Tekstovi/Srpski/sesta. ...... 375
Annex 48: Basic Court in Gradiska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Minutes of Witness Hearing
of Petar Božič dated 7 May 1995 (Novi Varoš case) ................................. 381
Annex 49: Basic Court in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Minutes of Witness
Hearing of Savo Počuča dated 10 May 1995 (Operation Flash) ............... 389
Map no. 7: Croatia: Western Slavonia, May 1995 (OperatiFnlash), DI Cartography Center,
reprinted in Central Intelligence Agency (CB,alkan Battlegrounds:
A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict 1990-1995 ............................ 403
Annex 50: General J. Bobetko, All My Battles (Sve moje bitke), Zagreb, 1996,
pp. 400 & 407 ........................................................................
..................... 407
Annex 51: Public Statements which Directly Provoked Perpetrators to Commit Genocide
against the Serb National Group in Croatia ............................................... 413
7SECTION III
Maps MAP no. 1
The Habsburg Military Krajina, 1792
Sour2000, p.19.mpe, Yugoslavia as History: Twice There was a Country, Cambridge,13 MAP no. 2
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 1990
SourcBattlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict 1990-1995CIA),17 MAP no. 3
Ethnic Composition in the Former Yugoslavia, 1991
Source: DI Cartography Center, reprinted in Balkanl Intelligence Agency (CIA),
Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict 1990-199521 MAP no. 4
Serb Population in the Croatian Municipalities, 1991
Source: N. Baric, Serbian Rebellion in Croatia 1991-1995 (Srpska pobuna u Hrvatskoj
1991-1995.), Zagreb, 2005, p. 4025 MAP no. 5
The RSK Municipalities
Source: N. Baric, Serbian Rebellion in Croatia 1991-1995 (Srpska pobuna u Hrvatskoj
1991-1995.), Zagreb, 2005, p. 17429 MAP no. 6
UN Forces in Croatia, Early 1995
Source: DI Cartography Center, reprinted in Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Balkan
Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict 1990-199533SECTION IV
Selection of the Relevant RSK Documents ANNEX 13
Statute of the Serbian Autonomous Region of
Krajina, Basic Provisions
Source: S. Radulović, Sudbina Krajine, 1996, p. 140394041 ANNEX 14
Resolution on the Separation of the Republic of
Croatia and the Serbian Autonomous Region of
Krajina
Municipalities of Benkovac, Donji Lapac, Gra čac, Knin, Korenica and Obrovac, no. 1/1991,d
paras. 1-34546 ANNEX 15
Decision on the Promulgation of the Statute of the
Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina by the
Constitutional Law of the Serbian Autonomous
Region of Krajina
Source: Krajina Journal, Official Gazette of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina and
Municipalities of Benkovac, Donji Lapac, Gračac, Knin, Korenica and Obrovac, no. 4/19914950 ANNEX 16
Decision on the Creation of Specialized Units of the
Ministry of Interior of the Serbian Autonomous
Region of Krajina called “Krajina Police” that will be
under the Authority of the Ministry of Defense
Source: Krajina Journal, Official Gazette of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina and
Municipalities of Benkovac, Donji Lapac, Gračac, Knin, Korenica and Obrovac, no.
4/1991, Art. 25354 ANNEX 17
Decision on the Implementation of the Law on
Defence of the Republic of Serbia in the Territory of
the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina
Source: Krajina Journal, Official Gazette of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina and
Municipalities of Benkovac, Donji Lapac, Gračac, Knin, Korenica and Obrovac, no.
4/1991, no. 8/1991, Art. 55758 ANNEX 18
Declaration on the Sovereign Self-rule of the Serbian
People of Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmicum
Source: Official Gazette of the Serbian Region of Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmicum,
no. 1/1991, paras. 6 & 76162 ANNEX 19
Constitution of the Republic of Serbian Krajina
Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, no.1/1992,
Articles nos. 1, 8, 78, 10265666768697071 ANNEX 20
Amendment VIII
Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, no.9/19927576 ANNEX 21
Law on Amendments to the Law on Defence
Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, no.9/1992, Article 17980 ANNEX 22
Amendments XII – XIV
Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, no.2/1993838485 SECTION V
Selection of the Relevant SFRY Documents ANNEX 23
Agreements of the SFRY concluded in the Second
Part of 1991
Tab. 1: Agreement between the Federal Executive Council of the Assembly of
the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Government of
the United States of America concerning the Program of the United
States Peace Corps in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
dated 1 July 1991
Tab. 2: METAP Grant Agreement (Environment Management Project)
between Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development, dated 4 October 1991,
and the Facsimile Cover Sheet with Message from the World
Bank/IFC/M.I.G.A. dated 11 October 1991
Tab. 3: Protocol between the Federal Executive Council of the Assembly of
the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Government of
Romania on Trade in Goods and Services, dated 27 November 1991Tab. 193949596Tab. 299100101102103104105106107108109110111Tab. 3115116117118119 ANNEX 24
Exchange of Ambassadors,
late 1991 – early 1992
Tab. 1: Letter from Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the USSR to the Presidency
of the SFRY, dated 5 November 1991
Tab. 2: Letter from Mr. Soeharto, President of Indonesia, to the Presidency of the
SFRY dated 15 January 1992
Tab.3: Letter from Mr. Bamako, President of Mali to the Presidency of the SFRY
dated 18 January 1992
Tab. 4: Letter from Mr. Ishaq Khan, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to
the Presidency of the SFRY dated 30 January 1992Tab. 1125126127Tab. 2131132Tab. 3135136137138Tab. 4141142143144145 ANNEX 25
Minute of the 127 Meeting of Members of the Presidency
of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia held on
18 July 1991149150151152153154155156 ANNEX 26
Letter of Mr. Stjepan Mesić to the SFRY Presidency dated
9 January 1992159160161162163164 ANNEX 27
Excerpt from the Transcript of the 31 session of the
Sobranije of the Republic of Macedonia
held on 10 January 1992167168169170171 ANNEX 28
Budislav Lončar, Federal Secretary for Foreign Affairss concerning the Retirement of Mr.
dated 7 February 1992175176177 ANNEX 29
Borisav Jović, Last Days of the SFRY: Excerpts from a
DiarBelgrade, 1989, pp. 402, 411 & 420dnevnika),181182183184185186 ANNEX 30
Letter of the Ministry of Defence addressed to the
Ministrydated 18 November 2009 the Republic of Serbia189190191192193194 ANNEX 31
JNA, Operation Group South Command, Decision for
CConfidential no. 235-1 dated 29 October 1991rictly197198199200201202203204205206SECTION VI
War Crime Trials in Croatia ANNEX 32
OSCE Mission to Croatia
Backgdated 13 September 2006, p. 29me trials 2005,211212213 ANNEX 33
District Court of Sisak
Velemir case, Judgment of 26 September 1996217218219220221222225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248253254255256257258259260261262267268269273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295299300301302303304305306307311312313317318319320323324325326327328329330331Amnesty International
Source: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR64/005/2004/en/df4d5196-
d54c-11dd-8a23-d58a49c0d652/eur640052004en.html
Croatia
A shadow on Croatia's future: Continuing impunity for war crimes and crimes
against humanity
[…]
Impunity for unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions allegedly committed by members of the
Croatian Army and police forces
A considerable number of trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity have been held before Croatian
courts over the past few years and the Croatian judiciary continues to actively investigate and prosecute war-time
human rights violations. However, in the vast majority of cases, criminal proceedings have been initiated only
when victims of such crimes were ethnic Croats.
Amnesty International welcomes the stated commitment of the Croatian authorities to tackle impunity for war
crimes through full cooperation with the Tribunal and through criminal proceedings instituted before Croatian
courts. Moreover, Amnesty International notes that in 2003 the Rijeka County Court issued the first domestic
convictions for war crimes of relatively high-level perpetrators of war-related human rights violations committed
against members of the Croatian Serb communities.(28) Amnesty International also notes that the Croatian
Supreme Court has played an increasingly positive role in addressing some of the shortcomings in trials for war
crimes and crimes against humanity conducted before lowe r level courts.(29) However, Amnesty International
remains concerned that the Croatian authorities overwhel mingly failed to address crimes allegedly committed by
members of the Croatian Army and police forces against the Croatian Serb population and that most of the
perpetrators have continued to enjoy impunity for their crimes.
In June 2004 the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) issued its Conclusions and Recommendations, after
having examined Croatia's third periodic report on measures taken by Croatia to give effect to the rights enshrined
in the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.(30) The
CAT expressed concern at the "reported failure of the State party to carry out prompt, impartial and full
investigations, to prosecute the perpetrators and to provide fair and adequate compensation to the victims [of
torture and ill-treatment which occurred during the conflict ]", at "[a]llegations that double standards were applied
at all stages of the proceedings against Serb defendants an d in favour of Croat defendants in war crime trials" as
well as at "[t]he reported harassment, intimidation and threats faced by witnesses and victims testifying in
proceedings and the lack of adequate protection from the State party".(31) The CAT recommended, inter alia, that
the Croatian authorities "[t]ake effective measures to ensure impartial, full and prompt investigations into all
allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the prosecution and punishment of the
perpetrators as appropriate and irrespective of their ethnic origin, and the provision of fair and adequate
compensation for the victims".(32) A recent OSCE report on domestic war crimes trials in Croatia noted that "the
national origin of defendants and possibly even more important ly that of victims continued to affect war crimes
proceedings in 2003".(33) According to statistical data compiled by the OSCE Mission to Croatia,(34) in 2003 19
of 20 people arrested, 137 of 148 under investigation, thre e of three indicted, 83 of 102 on trial, and 10 of 12
people convicted were ethnic Serbs.(35) The total number of ethnic Croats arrested, indicted and put on trial for
war crimes and crimes against humanity decreased from 2002 to 2003.(36)
In a few cases, investigations into violations committed against members of the Croatian Serb communities were
launched during the armed conflict, or soon afterwards, and the trials that followed were conducted in a politically
charged atmosphere which was not conducive to the fair adm inistration of justice. Croatian Serbs Mihajlo Zec, his
wife Marija and his 12-year-old daughter Aleksandra were killed in Zagreb in December 1991, allegedly by
members of the Croatian police.(37) In 1992 the suspected perpetrators of the murder were acquitted by the
Zagreb County Court reportedly because their confessions were considered to be inadmissible in court since they
were made to the investigative judge in the absence of their legal representatives.(38) Reportedly, during the
proceedings the court was subjected to strong political pressure.(39) In 1994, the ninth periodic report on the
situation of human rights in the territory of the former Yugoslavia by the Special Rapporteur of the UN
Commission on Human Rights noted that "[i]ndependence and impartiality in the administration of justice
335constitute one of the basic foundations of effective protection of human rights"(40) and quoted the unresolved
murder of members of the Zec family as a case which "casts serious doubts on measures taken to ensure such a
system in Croatia".(41) The report in particular stated:
"In December 1991, Mr. and Mrs. Zec and their 12- year-old daughter were murdered in Zagreb and
several days later five persons were arrested as alleged perpetrators of the crime. According to reliable
sources, four of the suspects were members of a special police unit. The five admitted having committed
the murders; however, they were released soon after their arrest for procedural reasons, and have never
been punished".(42)
In April 2004 the Croatian authorities pledged to pay compensation amounting to approximately 200,000 Euros to
the two surviving members of the Zec family and the Croatian Prime Minister has reportedly recently stated that
the murder of members of the Zec family must be solved. However, the perpetrators of this crime continue to
enjoy impunity.
The intimidation of witnesses,(43) as well as the tribunals' perceived or actual lack of impartiality, have often been
serious obstacles to the delivery of justice also in re cent trials for crimes committed against members of the
Croatian Serb communities. The "Lora" trial against eight former members of the Croatian Military Police, held at
the Split County Court in 2002, is a case in point. The suspects, accused of having tortured non-Croat civilians
and of having murdered two of them in Split's Lora military prison in 1992, were reportedly welcomed by loud
applause from the public at the start of the trial.(44) It wa s reported that, during the trial, the president of the panel
of judges repeatedly addressed the accused by their first names and shook their hands when they entered the
courtroom.(45) Moreover, the presiding judge reportedly appeared to mock a statement made by one of the
witnesses who claimed he had been tortured in the Lora prison.(46) Widespread witness harassment and
intimidation was also reported and several prosecution witnesses heard by the court retracted the detailed
statements they had made during the criminal investigati on into human rights violations in Lora prison. Many of
the witnesses were former detainees who suffered human ri ghts violations, or former prison guards. The "Lora"
trial ended with the acquittal of all the accused in No vember 2002.(47) In August 2004 the Croatian Supreme
Court overturned the verdict ruling that the Split County Court had incorrectly and incompletely established the
facts and ordered a retrial of the suspects before a new panel of judges.(48) A new trial is reportedly expected to
begin in January 2005.
In another high profile case, a former member of the Croatian special police forces was twice acquitted by the
Karlovac County Court of charges of having killed 13 disarmed JNA reservists in 1991, by firing bursts from his
machine gun. The accused was first acquitted in 1992 and the Croatian Supreme Court overturned the verdict in
1993. The retrial, which started in 2000, was completed after various delays in 2003. Also in this case the
proceedings, which were reportedly accompanied by pub lic demonstrations of support for the defendant,(49)
ended with an acquittal. The Karlovac court reportedly ruled that the accused acted in "self-defence". The
Croatian Supreme Court overturned the verdict, ruling that, in the trial, facts had been incorrectly established.(50)
The Supreme Court ordered the suspect's retrial for the third time in March 2004. The retrial before the Karlovac
County Court began in September 2004.
Information on crimes against the Croatian Serb population in and around Sisak,(51) a town in central Croatia
situated approximately 50 km southeast of Zagreb, became available in the early phase of the armed conflict. In
several cases, the suspected perpetrators were members of the Croatian Army or police forces. Between 1991
and 1992 Croatian Serbs in Sisak and in the surrounding area became victims of a campaign of killings,
abductions, "disappearances", assaults and threats. In No vember 1991 Amnesty International reported that "[u]p
to 21 Serbian villagers are said to have been killed on 22 August [1991] in the villages of Kinjacka, Cakle and
Trnjani near Sisak when Croatian security forces undertook a house-to-house search for Serbian paramilitaries
who had fired mortars at the town of Sisak".(52) In a report published in March 1992, Amnesty International
provided information on the killing of 12 Croatian Serbs in Sisak,(53) some of whom had been employed in the
INA oil refinery.
This report documents further examples of impunity for human rights violations committed in Sisak during the
armed conflict. Crimes committed in Sisak, relatively little known outside of Croatia, were chosen as illustrative
examples of a widespread pattern of violations committed against the civilian population allegedly by members of
the Croatian Army and police forces. To Amnesty International's knowledge, in no cases have these crimes
resulted in a conviction. Some of those who may have directly committed, ordered or tolerated these crimes, or
may have participated in their subsequent cover-up, remain in powerful positions at the local level of state
institutions or in the police and are thus still in a position to undermine the investigation of these crimes.
The climate of intimidation against Croatian Serbs, and in general, those suspected of not supporting Croatian
independence, which was prevailing in Sisak already at the start of the conflict, is illustrated by the publication on
29 June 1991, in the Croatian tabloid Slobodni Tjednik,of a list of 14 Sisak residents. The list included the names
and, in some cases, the addresses and telephone numbers of alleged "enemy collaborators" and members of the
Yugoslav military intelligence ( Kontraobaveštajna Služba – KOS). Jovo Crnobrnja, a retired police officer from
Sisak and one of the Croatian Serbs named in the Slobodni Tjedniklist, was reportedly killed on 27 August 1991
by armed men in uniform who attacked him in his house.
336On the evening of 22 August 1991 Croatian Serb Miljenko Ðapa, a worker at the Sisak oil refinery, was arrested
by armed men in his home.(54) Miljenko Ðapa's mother, in the days following his arrest, tried to obtain information
on the fate and whereabouts of her son, addressing the Croatian police and military authorities. However, for
several days she was kept in the dark about her son's fate and she reported having been intimidated by members
of the Croatian police, who alleged that her son was a "spy". On 29 August she was informed by the police
authorities that Miljenko Ðapa's body had been found near the village of Èigoè, approximately 20 km from Sisak.
Reportedly, Miljenko Ðapa died as a result of gunshot wounds. The Croatian authorities failed to thoroughly
investigate this crime, whose perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity.
On 13 September 1991 the family home of Croatian Serb Damjan Žiliæ in the small town of Petrinja was
bombarded with machine guns and hand grenades, allegedly by members of the Croatian Army. Damjan Žiliæ,
aged 52, a chemical engineer and chief of production at the INA oil refinery in Sisak, was not injured, but the
house was considerably damaged. Although he was not a member of any political party, and had signed an oath
of loyalty to the Republic of Croatia, he was aware of hostility at his place of work, apparently based on his
nationality (the security guards had on a number of occasi ons refused him entry to the premises). After the attack
on their home, he and his wife (an ethnic Croat) moved to Zagreb. On 23 November 1991 he was abducted from
outside his home in Novi Zagreb. Reportedly, he was killed by blows to the head and his body was thrown in the
Sava River.(55) On 7 December four reservists of the Croatian Army, two of whom had been employed at the INA
refinery, were arrested and charged with his murder. Their trial began on 20 February 1992. It is reported that a
large group of Croatian Army soldiers were present in the court building and shouted abuse and threats at
Damjan Žiliæ's wife and daughter.(56) The president of the court reportedly suspended proceedings, after
declaring that she had received death threats and that in these circumstances it was not appropriate to try the
case in a civilian court. Reportedly, the four were amnestied in 1993.
Croatian Serb Petar Pajagiæ, employed in the Sisak oil refinery as the head of the control unit, was killed
following his arrest, in September 1991. Reportedly, after having had lunch with his daughter, on 20 September
1991 Petar Pajagiæ left her house, walked to his nearby fl at,(57) where he was later arrested by three men in
police uniform.(58) Following his arrest, the family was unable to obtain information on Petar Pjagiæ's fate and
whereabouts. There are indications that in the case of Petar Pajagiæ, and possibly of other Croatian Serbs killed
and "disappeared" in Sisak, the perpetrators may have acted chiefly in pursuit of their individual interest, taking
advantage of the ongoing campaign of intimidation against Croatian Serbs and of the impunity for crimes against
members of these communities. Reportedly, Petar Pajagiæ's position in the refinery was occupied by another
person immediately on the first working day which follow ed his "disappearance". Moreover, four days after the
"disappearance" of Petar Pajagiæ, his flat, to which he had tenancy rights, was occupied by another person.(59)
The body of Petar Pajagiæ was found in 2002 in the Danube river near Novi Sad, in the territory of the then
FRY.(60) The identification was reportedly co nducted at the Military Medical Academy ( Vojnomedicinska
Akademija)in Belgrade (FRY). Reportedly, the settlement request(61) filed by Petar Pajagiæ's daughter Diana
Pajagiæ was rejected in 2004 by the State Attorney, inter alia, on the grounds that the documents issued by the
Serbian authorities related to the identification conducted in Belgrade were not recognized as evidence of the
victim's death.(62) Moreover, after Diana Pajagiæ's stat ements to the Croatian press on impunity for the murder
of her father, she reported that she was on several occasions subjected to intimidation and anonymous threats.
On 17 September 1991 19-year-old student Ljubica Solar was killed in her boyfriend's flat in Sisak by a bullet fired
from outside the building.(63) Ljubica Solar was the daught er of an ethnic Croat mother and of a Croatian Serb
father, and her boyfriend, Duško Maloviæ, was a former JNA soldier.(64) Ljubica Solar's mother, Vjera, has
repeatedly addressed the Croatian authorities demanding a thorough investigation into her daughter's killing and
that the perpetrators be brought to justice. Repor tedly, in 2001 a former member of the "Wolves" ( Vukovi), a
special police unit, stated to the investigating judge in Sisak that the perpetrators of the killing of Ljubica Solar
were former members of his unit.(65) The Croatian authoritie s are reportedly still investigating this crime and so
far, to Amnesty International's knowledge, no one has been indicted in connection with the murder of Ljubica
Solar. Moreover, Vjera Solar's settlement request was rejected, apparently because criminal proceedings in her
daughter's murder have not been completed.
In the past years Vjera Solar has brought to the attention of the Croatian public her daughter's unresolved murder.
She has also founded the Civic Association against Violence ( Graðanska udruga protiv nasilja ) to raise
awareness and collect data on crimes allegedly committed by members of the Croatian army and police forces,
mostly against Croatian Serbs. To date, Vjera Solar has gathered information on approximately 115 people,
mostly members of Croatian Serb communities, killed or "disappeared" in and around Sisak. In July 2002, the
Croatian magazine Hrvatska ljevicapublished a dossier on war crimes in Sisak, as well as a list of 107 names of
victims of killings or "disappearances", the majority of which occurred during the second half of 1991.
In June 2003 two former Croatian police officers were arrested and charged with having killed a Croatian Serb,
Nikola Drobnjak,(66) on 5 April 1992, in the village of Blinjski Kut, near Sisak. Reportedly, following the arrest of
the suspects, a group of former Croatian soldiers, as well as representatives of veterans' organizations, protested
in front of the Sisak County Court building. According to the findings of trial monitoring conducted by the OSCE,
during the trial supporters of the defendants direct ed comments at prosecution witnesses during their
testimony.(67) Moreover, the OSCE reported that one of the witnesses stated that he "was contacted by three
337former high ranking army officials prior to the hearing all of whom inquired into the content of his testimony".(68)
According to the OSCE, the witness reported that one of the former army officials threatened him and his family.
At the end of the trial, the prosecution amended the indictment by charging the suspects for the killing of an
unidentified person, reportedly because the fact that the body of the victim had remained for 28 days in the Sava
River prevented the identification.(69) In June 2004 the defendants were acquitted, reportedly for lack of
evidence.
Despite information on widespread human rights violations against Croatian Serbs in Sisak, which were
documented in the Croatian press, as well as by local organizations, the Croatian authorities have failed to bring
the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. The direct perpetrators of these crimes, as well as officials with chain-
of-command responsibility in the civil and military administration, who may have ordered or tolerated killings and
other human rights violations, continue to enjoy impunity.
338341342343 KN-oIO03/94-99
MINUTES OF WITNESS HEARING
taken on 19 February 2002 before the investigating magistrate of the First Municipal Court in
Belgrade in the criminal case against unknown persons, for committing the criminal act
punishable under Article 120 of the Basic Criminal Code of the Republic of Croatia.
Investigating Magistrate
s s e n t i cW i v o r a s e C n a g a r D
c i s o T e c n a l i M
Court Recorder
Jasna Marinkovic
Witness has been cautioned that he/she is bound to tell the truth and not to hold
anything back; he/she has been warned ag
testimony and that he/she is not bound to answer some of the questions asked if he/she is
likely to put himself/herself or a close relative to utter disgrace, considerable material
damage or to be criminally prosecuted; therefore, the witness has given the following
answers to the general questions posed:
1) Name and surname:
2) Father’s name:
3) Occupation:
4) Address:
5) Place of birth:
6) Year of birth:
7) Relationship to the
accused and injured party:
Witness has been cautioned that he is bound to tell the truth and not to hold anything back; he
has been warned against the consequences of gi ving false testimony and that he is not bound
to answer some of the questions asked if he is likely to put himself or a close relative to utter
disgrace, considerable material damage or to be criminally prosecuted, he stated as follows in
reply to the questions asked by the Court:
In the period 1991-1992, I served my military service in the JNA. Actually, I ended my military
service in February, but due to the war breaking out, my service was extended by three months.
I did my national duty in Gabela, near Capljina. I guarded a warehouse. As early as 1991, we
had provocations from members of the then HVO. The warehouse that I guarded was full of
ammunition and explosives, which was probably the reason why they had not attacked us
openly. This installation was handed over by the JNA on 12 April 1992 when it was completely
empty and we, as JNA soldiers, were surrounded by HVO soldiers and regular Croatian Army
which was then known as the ZNG. Our captain first class Dusko Gidic, in consultation with
local authorities, turned over the installation and we, soldiers, were promised that no one would
do any harm to us and that they would enable us to return to Yugoslavia.As we left the warehouse, HVO soldiers waited fo r us fully armed, although we had left our
arms in the warehouse, which means that we were unarmed. My group numbered 15 soldiers
and 3 officers, and HVO men thre w all of us into a van and drove us to Neum, near Ploce,
where they took our particulars and moved us, in the evening, to Split. There, we were
detained in the Dracevo facility which was us ed by the ZNG military police and, the same
evening, we were transferred to the Lora pr ison in Split. In Dracevac, they again took our
particulars and we were interrogated by military investigators and were mistreated, beaten,
slapped and done other things by them. The military police, by and large, punched us, and
some of them I saw both in Dracevac and later in Lora.
In the Lora prison I was placed in the so-calle d block A, in a cell of approximately 2 by 3
meters, where the four of us shared the same cell. During the first week or in the first two days,
the cell was empty; there were no beds or chairs in it; we all slept on a linoleum which covered
a concrete floor. For the first two days we sleptwithout a blanket or a mattress, and later on, we
only got a blanket each. It was only a week or two later that they brought in dunk beds. At first,
there were four of us with prisoners being changed: some were moved out and others brought
in. Now, after all this ordeal, I can say that I was lucky to have been placed in this cell block
and not in block C where there were prisoners of war – volunteers, as they were referred to by
the Croats, as well as reservists. I also saw that civilians from Split and environs, who were
Serbs, were also taken there. This prison was, after a while, visited by an ICRC delegation,
which was approximately a month after my detent ion, but they had only access to blocks B and
A, while block C was not even mentioned to them by the Croatian side. Therefore, before their
arrival, some of the prisoners from block B, pilotsin the first place, had been moved to block C.
There, at Lora, I was beaten by guards almost every day. In the first month and a half of my stay
there, I received no decision concerning my detention nor had they instituted any proceedings
against me before the Croatian authorities. As regards their beatings of me, I can say that I was
mainly punched and kicked by guards individually, and they punched and kicked me where they
pleased. They made me and other prisoners sing Ustasha songs all day and night, and salute the
guards, fascist style, by raising our hand above the head. The guards took particularly morbid
pleasure in torturing me and other prisoners by using water hose under high pressure to press me
and others literally up against the wall. On three occasions, I was electrocuted in a room on cell
block A where I received electric shocks through the inductor of a field telephone when I held the
conductors in my hands. While I was electrocuted, I had to count to 15 in order to see to what
extent I can endure while receiving electric shocks. Sometimes, after receiving the first electric
shock I dropped the wires, so they made me hold them tight, threatening that, unless I did so, they
would tie the wires to my fingers and put them through my ears. After such electric shocks, I fell
down and was completely dazed and confused. Nevertheless, they forced me to stand up, while
they repeated the whole procedure all over again. Those who beat me the most and electrocuted
me were a man of lower built, by the name Andjelko Botic, and one named Ante Gudic. When
they took us for electrocution, they told us that we had to ring home or ring Milosevic up. Later
on, because I was able to go to all cell blocks, I saw that they introduced sophisticated methods of
electrocution by acquiring potentiometer by which they held in check the intensity of shocks by
stepping on a pedal. During my detention at Lora, its warden Tomo Dujic and his wife, who
frequently accompanied him, whose name I do not know, also wearing a uniform, participated in
the torture of prisoners as well. Tomo Dujic himself repeatedly beat me with the baseball bat.
As I already said, after a month and a half of this torture against me, they stopped, because I
heard that if I applied to them to stay three years, I could later get a passport and leave
Croatia, so I agreed to it in order to avoid any further beatings and mistreatment. After this, I
348was mainly given various physical tasks, ranging from cleaning, washing the dishes to doing
hard physical jobs around the house, such as land raking, cleaning footpaths, lawn mowing
and similar jobs. In particular, I had trouble mowi ng grass and raking land in the field around
Lora, which were suspected of being minefields left by the JNA, which was why they actually
used us, as guinea pigs, to survey these fields. I heard, although I cannot confirm it with
certainty, that one of the prisoners was killed while mowing, as he stepped on a landmine, but
I do not know the name of that man. Neverthe less, I know that Croatian soldiers came there
later on with detectors which detected some anti-personnel landmines.
As I mentioned earlier, after a month and a half , I was given greater liberty to move around
the prison so I could see what was going on in other blocks. The treatment of prisoners and
civilians on cell block C was particularly cruel.
I cleaned toilets on block C more than once and heard that prisoners had been mainly taken
there for beating and torture. I saw that the toilet was almost, at all times, bloody and I washed
that blood away. This room was used by Croatian prison guards especially before the visits of
ICRC delegates. They concealed prisoners from this block and moved them into another facility
called tower, near the prison and towards the docks of the port, before their tour of the prison.
Of all prisoners detained in block C, the followi ng persons were particularly brutally beaten
and ill treated: Luka Adzic, Gavrilo Tripkovi c and his brother Damjan Tripkovic, Jelenko
Kovacevic, Gavrilo Kovacevic, Dobrivoje Bojovic, as well as former JNA pilots Milan Micic,
Goran Pantic, Dragan Arsovski and Nikola Derfi. Luka Adzic, whom I saw, was disfigured by
beating; his ears were swollen and dangled like balls; they also plucked the hairs out of his
beard; almost all his teeth were broken, because he only had a few teeth in his jaws.Gavrilo
and Damjan Tripkovic had thei r bones broken by beating, while Jelenko and Gavrilo
Kovacevic had their jaws broken so that the wires from their dental prosthesis were in full
view. The pilots that I mentioned were also b eaten black and blue and swollen from beating.
As far as I know, there is no prisoner from block C who had not been, at least once, taken to
hospital for medical treatment . I remember that Vladimir Zarkovic had his earlobes cut
through. He was injured in this way while he was electrocuted when they put the wires
through his earlobes and he tore the earlobes when he shook his head from electric shocks.
Zarkovic and Miroslav Cucak were brutally beat en by the guards, Ante Gudic and Andjelko
Botic, in my presence, several times. A man su rnamed Perisic, also known as Rambo, took
part in those beatings, alongside a man named Zdenko, I presume.
Prisoners from block C were beaten with baseba ll bats and police clubs by guards. The other
prisoners were also beaten in this way, but somewhat less than block C prisoners. The above
mentioned guards often took prisoners to the pr ison grounds where they forced them to lean
against the wall with their hands and then they beat them. Some prisoners were tied to the
radiators so that they hung, in a way, and then they beat them, with their arms raised, with
bats and whatever they came across, all over their bodies.
It is known that ambulance came to the prison when the guards called them after the prisoners had
lost their consciousness from beating. I remember one nurse who was of large build and fair-haired,
who attended the beaten prisoners and who subsequently beat the other prisoners with a police club.
Also, while I was in prison, the guards brou ght, on several occasions, some women aged
between 17 and 18. I guessed from their behaviour that they were prostitutes.Then they asked
the prisoners if they wanted to have sex with them. We were all silent , refusing to have any
349relations with such persons. Once they also as ked me the same questi on and, after I had said
that I did not want to, then the guards beat me up saying that they were not good enough for
me, because they were Croats. After this inci dent, even though the answer was yes to such
relations, we still were beaten a nd they told us that we were not good enough for these girls,
as Croats. In other words, whatever was the answer, we got the beating all the same.
During my detention at Lora, I was aware that three prisoners had been killed. One of them
was the soldier nicknamed "White Eagle". I kno w that he was from Kragujevac and that he
was very young. He was nicknamed "White Ea gle" after they had found the white eagle
emblem in his pocket. He was de tained in block C and was beaten to such an extent that he
was totally black from bruising on his body. Hi s face was purple and he had sore wounds on
his legs, that looked like gaping holes that ha d not been bandaged. His cell was all stained
with blood, faesces and urine. I know this because, on more than one occasion, I brought him
food myself, but he could not eat and only lay in the far end of the cell and moaned. We could
not sleep from his screams during the night when they beat him. One day, he simply
disappeared and I heard from Zarkovic and Mirosl av Cucak that this young fellow had been
killed in the prison, and that they themselves had made a coffin for him out of ammunition
cases and took it to the perimeter fence. Later on, I heard that his throat had been slit, there.
The other prisoner who had been killed was named Vlado Savic. He had been beaten so
savagely that was in a very bad psychological shape, almost out of his mind. They morbidly
beat him almost every day and, one day, we saw him no more. That was in the middle of May
1992. I do not know any other details about this killing. I would like to draw attention that the
prison had often been visited by Croatian soldiers coming fro m battlegrounds and that they,
too, participated in the beating of prisoners and got kicks out of it.
I know that one civilian person had also been killed in this prison; he was a Serb as to ethnic
origin and came from the vicinity of Split. He was between 35 and 40 years of age. I do not
know his name and I only know that he had been brought to Lora and that, on one occasion,
as far as I can remember, when he had to be transferred from Lora, he tried to escape and I
was in the prison grounds when I saw the guards shoot at him. When he fell down on a
footpath, the guards came to him along with warden Tomo Dujic. They beat him and took him
to the toilet on block A where they beat him so savagely and, since I happened to pass by
when they did so, I know that he was most beaten and punched by Tomo Dujic himself and
that he died then and there of the injuries he sustained. On that occasion, in addition to the
warden, there were some other prison guards in the toilet, who took out their knives, so I
guess that they had stabbed him to death.
During my detention in this prison, together with Zarkovic and Cucak, I made two or three
coffins out of timber from the ammunition cases. Finally, I would like to add that, of other
prison staff, apart from Tomo Dujic, whom I think was from Vukovar and who was in
command of the prison, I also knew a man called Brkic or Vrkic, his first name was Tonci
who accompanied Dujic, Zoran Dozder who stood in for Dujic in his absence, and among the
prison guards I remembered vividly, by their br utality, Ante Gudic, Andjelko Botic, brothers
Damir and Davor Perisic, one of whom was nicknamed Ra mbo, Tonci Rogosic, who was
particularly cruel, as well as Emilio Bung ur, Josko Pribudic and Zoran Sulejmanovic. The
other guards I can recognize by sight, but I do not know their names. Some of them even took
pictures with us, to keep them as souvenirs of the imprisoned Chetniks.
I was at Lora until 20 August 1992 when they transferred me for the purpose of prisoner exchange,
first at Kerestinac near Zagreb and then in Osijek. I was exchanged on 14 August 1992, at Nemetin.
350And last but not least, I would like to add that, considering that I worked in the kitchen, food
was good enough to survive, but it was bad an d insufficient, and provided once or twice a
day. However, on block C, they did not get an y food or got it irregularly, and it was very
poor, so that I often pushed to them leftovers behind the bars, sometimes even cigarettes and
other things.
As regards my willingness to stand as witness in Split, I am, in principle, ready to do so
provided that some other witnesse s who used to be detained with me at Lora appear as well
and on condition that we receive full assuran ces regarding our security and permanent
protection by the Croatian police from the border crossing to Split, and from Split on our
return to Yugoslavia.
That is all I had to say; I heard what was dictated out loud as the minute; I do not wish to read
it and I sign it as my own statement without any comments.
The hearing was adjourned at 10:35 a.m.
Roeurtrder InvestiMatigistrate
Jasrinkoigced) DC raganoigiced)
MiTlogieed)
351352353354355356357 KN-oIO5/93
MINUTES OF WITNESS HEARING
taken on 21 February 2002 before the investigating magistrate of the First Municipal Court in
Belgrade in the criminal case against unknown persons, for committing the criminal act
punishable under Article 120 of the Basic Criminal Code of the Republic of Croatia.
Investigating Magistrate
s s e n t i cW i v o r a s e C n a g a r D
Vojvakovic
Court Recorder
Jasna Marinkovic
Witness has been cautioned that he/she is bound to tell the truth and not to hold
anything back; he/she has been warned ag
testimony and that he/she is not bound to answer some of the questions asked if he/she is
likely to put himself/herself or a close relative to utter disgrace, considerable material
damage or to be criminally prosecuted; therefore, the witness has given the following
answers to the general questions posed:
1) Name and surname:
2) Father’s name:
3) Occupation:
4) Address:
5) Place of birth:
6) Year of birth:
7) Relationship to the
accused and injured party:
The witness was cautioned that he was bound to
evidence; he was also warned against the consequence of giving false evidence, as well as that
he was not bound to answer some of the questions if they were likely to put him or any of his
closer relatives to utter disgrace or to cause him considerable material damage or to be
criminally prosecuted, and he made the following statement:
From 1989, I worked as a lieutenant in the then JNA at the Army Post Office 5542 in Nis. On
2 August 1991, I was assigned to Army Post Office 5919 in Knin. In January 1992, I received
the assignment to evacuate, with my unit, the Serb civilians from the village of Noskalik,
which is situated in the vicinity of Sibenik. Bearing in mind that it was the outset of the war in
Croatia and that this village was near the Croatian army forces, there was a danger that the
lives of civilians could be jeopardized, because of the daily military activities of the Croatian
forces and the infiltration of their subversive groups. On 29 February 1992, I set off with my
unit to complete the assignment I was given. I was with 22 other soldiers, all JNA recruits.
We arrived in this village in the after
population. The village had about 300 civilians, including 35 children. So we had to evacuatethem to Knin. During this evacuation, a Croatian subversive group numbering 10-20 people
with ZNG symbols attacked the village cutting off my unit, which was followed by an all-out
attack of ZNG forces on us. They killed two of my soldiers, Zivko Zenek and Niko Zeljak,
both were from the vicinity of Knin, and after two days when I saw their bodies I noticed that
their throats had been cut. During this operation of the Croatian forces, Zivko Zeljak's mother
was killed along with another woman whose body was decapitated and I don't recall her
name. My unit withdrew to another village an d we battled with the Croatian forces until 2
March 1992. During this fighting, I was wounded in my left leg and was also injured in the
head, in a hand-grenade explosion. I was also taken prisoner by ZNG forces, on that occasion.
As soon as they caught me wounded and injured, they threw me into a nearby stream and
started drowning me. Then they took me out of water and walked over me. They kicked me
all over my body. After they had beaten me over my wounds, they took me on a stretcher,
improvised from a ladder, to their prison in Kuli na, near Sibenik. While they transported me
to Kulina, they also kicked me, hit me with rifle butts, wooden bats and similar instruments. I
remember that my lips were cut from the beating, and that the doctors stitched them later on at
a hospital where I received medical assistance . Along with me, 7 other soldiers had been
taken prisoner, as well as a number of civilians. They threatened us that we would all be
killed. They even went so far as to put a firing squad in front of us, threatening to execute us.
There at Kulina, in Sibenik, one soldier show ed me a piece of paper with my alleged
confession typed on it saying that I had killed Croatian soldiers and civilians and he
demanded that I signed it. I did not want to si gn it and, later, I saw that somebody else had
signed for me. That same evening, I and six other soldiers were moved to a prison in the
Dracevac barracks, near Split. No sooner had I co me there, that the guards tore both of my
earlobes with a piece of wire or staple, and left them hanging in my ears, as earrings. I had
these wires in my ears for two months.
On 3 March 1992, I was transferred from the pr ison at Dracevac to a military prison located
within the naval port of Lora, in Split. I was driven to Lora together with 6 other JNA soldiers,
most of whom were active soldiers, but there were also some reservists among them. Along
with me were also brought: Mirko Milovac, Jovo Zeljak, Pero Zeljak and Dino Zeljak, as well
as some other men whose names I cannot remember now. As soon as they took us out of this
truck, a group of guards was already lined up waiting to beat us, kick us with their boots and hit
us with rifle butts and clubs. They beat us for about two hours in the courtyard; then they put us
into cells, one by one. The cell I was in was the size of 2 by 3 metres. It had no beds and no
chairs or any other furniture. The floor was made of concrete. I had no blanket or mattress to
sleep or sit on, and I lay there on the concrete floor itself. As soon as I was put into this cell, I
was beaten. A group of 3 guards burst in and theybeat me, kicked me and hit me with baseball
bats, all over my body. When the three of them got tired, they came out and another group of 3
guards came in. They kept beating me. I also heard from the sound coming from other cells that
the soldiers, who had been brought in with me, were also being beaten. They beat us without
interruption. I could not sleep whether from aches and pains or from the fact that they were
constantly coming in and beating us. Because I was completely disfigured from the beatings I
received, I lost track of time, but I think it was morning when they brought me to an office and
the guards called the military policeman wearing a uniform, who was in front of me, the
warden, and some even called him by his first na me Tomo. Later on, I found out that this Tomo
was commander of this prison and that his surname was Dujic. Together with him in the office
was, I was later told, his wife, and I believe thather name was Sandra or Tanja, I am not sure. I
remember that Tomo Dujic again gave me a piece of paper with a text which says that I had
killed Croatian soldiers and civilians, to sign it,and since I refused, he told a guard to cut off my
fingers. Then the guard who was present in the office came to me, pulled out his knife, put my
362hand onto the table, took my right hand first, and then he made a move to cut my index finger,
of which I even have a scar today. The investig ating magistrate noted that, having the witness
shown his right hand index finger and a visible scarin the middle of it, as well as that he had the
same scar also on the index finger of this left hand.
Having started cutting my right had index finger, the guard took my left hand and repeated the
same process with my left hand index finger. Then, Dujic stopped him and told me to sit on a
chair, tying my arms and legs to it himself, after which he tied two wires on the improvised
earrings that had already been put into my ears at Dracevac. I noticed that the wires were
connected to the field inductor telephone. Then, Dujic turned the handle of the telephone and
switched on the electric current. That was a 11 5 volt current and it caused strong electric
shocks and pains so that my whole body twitched, following which Dujic tied the wires to my
legs and to my penis so that this torture last ed for several hours. While Dujic subjected me to
torture with electric shocks, the guards beat me all over my body which was tied up.
After these electric shocks, they used to take me back to my cell, and I recall that, after a
while, some children came in and beat me also with various objects. I believe that one of them
was the son of Dujic or another prison guard.
Besides, I also remember a guard, whose name I do not know, but I can describe what he
looked like at the time. He had eith er on his left or right arm a scar that he used to show me
each time. He was not so tall, brown-haired and had a fringe. He drove me in a car to his
home and held me there in the basement. Then he called some of his acquaintances and they
beat me mostly with chains in that basement. After that, they bundled me into the back of his
car and he drove me back to Lora. Again, they threw me into my cell and the guards brought
German Shepherd dogs which were trained and ga ve them orders to dig their teeth into my
neck. After that, they would sooth the dogs and the guards would force me to kiss the dog,
which held me by the neck, on its mouth.
After this torture, the guards would take me and the others to the prison grounds, saying that
they were taking us out for execution by shooting, because we were all sentenced to death and
they lined us up against the wall. One of the guards who wore a black cap with a slit, on the
head would stand out, pull out his gun and shoot me and others, just missing our heads.
During my detention at Lora, I was taken out a dozen times for these mock "shootings". They
also forced me and Mirko Milovac repeatedly to beat each other with bats and sticks, as well
as to punch each other, so hard or else we would be beaten by the guards.
Apart from seven prisoners of war, I saw that three civilians were detained with us at the time.
I had not seen any other prisoner and I believe that there were no such prisoners. However, I
do not know the names of these civilians.
I would also like to add that besides the warden Tomo Dujic, I do not remember the names of
other prison guards except for the name of his wife who also used to beat me and the other
prisoners alongside her husband Tomo Dujic. Howe ver, I am sure that despite the passing of
time, I can recognize these guards. I also know th at at the Dracevac prison where I had also
been beaten and subjected to torture, th e commander was Ivica Bacic, whom I had known
from an earlier period when he was a non-commissione d officer in the JNA. He also brutally
beat me at the prison at Dracevac and threatened to kill me. He used to tell me that I had come
from Aleksinac to Split to kill his family. While I was at Dracevac and Lora, I was not given
any decision on my detention. It was long after th is that I was tried in Zagreb for the criminal
act of armed rebellion and I was sentenced, I believe, to 22 years in prison.
363 I also believe that I was in luck because, immediately upon my imprisonment, I was spotted
quite by accident by ICRC dele gates and after being captured, I was recorded as such right
away. That was why I stayed alive. Had it not be en for these records, I believe I would have
been dead.
I was at Lora until 7 March 1992 when they drove me to the prison in Sibenik where I was
also tortured and mistreated in various ways, like at Lora. Finally, in April I was moved to
Kerestinac in Zagreb.
My detention in these prisons in Croatia that I would refer to as detention camps has resulted
in my terrible physical and psychological c ondition, even today. For instance, when I was
captured I weighed 97 kg and when I was exchanged, I weighed only 46 kg. I had my ribs
broken in these prisons, five ribs on my right hand side and two on my left hand side. I can
prove it with my medical documents.
I would be prepared to testify in court rega rding developments at Lora if all security
assurances were given by the Croatian government.
That is all I had to say; I listened to what was dictated as the minute out loud; I do not wish to
read it and I sign it as my own statement, without any comments.
The hearing was adjourned at 12:20 p.m.
Roeuortrder InvestiMatigistrate
Jaarinkoigiced) DCraganoigiced)
VZojvkoigced)
364365366367368369373374On 21 November 1993, Nikola Nadoveza was h eard as witness of what happened on
Miljevacki Plato on 21 June 1992 in the offices of the Main Staff of the Serbian Army of
Krajina, Room No. 51, and he gave the following
STATEMENT
My name is Nikola Nadoveza. I was born on 2 January 1953 in the village of Icevo,
Municipality of Sibenik, of late father Stojan and mother Stevanija, nee Urukalo. I work for
the enterprise TVIK in Knin, I am married and a father of three. I am a Serb and have no
criminal record.
On 21 June 1992, as a TO soldier, I was deploy ed in Kljuc on Miljevacki Plato. The Croatian
Army attacked us around 4:40 a.m. and as we withdrew, I was taken prisoner in Siritovci
around 7:00 p.m. I was captured together with 18 soldiers of whom two were killed and 3
injured. When we were captured, they stripped us into our underwear. We had to empty our
pockets of all documents, money and other pos sessions. As we did so, we were hit and
insulted by whoever pleased.
After a while, a truck came to the scene. We had to load one killed soldier onto it. His name
was Ljubo Trifunovic. Three wounded soldiers we re also loaded onto the truck. After a
kilometer drive, the truck came to a stop and they called out Djuro Cosic who had to step out.
Two soldiers led him away and we had to lo ad another body in. The killed man had a belt
around his neck and no injuries on his body. Later on, it turned out that he had been strangled.
His name was Medos and I don't remember his first name. From there we travelled on to
Visovac where we waited for a boat. There, they ill-treated us by forcing us in and out of
water which was terribly dirty and cold. Then arrived the boat into which we loaded the
wounded and dead, and we travelled to the Krka Falls. From there, we boarded a bus which
was lined up by Croatian army soldiers who kicked us with their boots and hit us with rifles
wherever they could. We then came to Sibenik, in the prison, in front of which there was a
line-up of Croatian soldiers. who beat us again.
When we came into the cell, we all slept ther e together and they t ook our particulars during
the night. The next day, they used various methods to beat us. On 23 June 1992, they dragged
us out of the cell and took us to Miljevacki Plato where we had to bury our dead soldiers.
We were four in a group. At first, we dug graves where we buried our fellow soldiers. We
buried two bodies in one grave and five in the other. Then I found Djuro Cosic and
recognized him. He was the one who had been dragged out of the truck and stayed behind. I
looked at him and saw that his lip was cut, mo st probably because he was stabbed into the
throat and he also had stabwounds on both of his thighs. The skin on his chest, 3 cm by 2 cm,
was ripped. When we had done this job, ther e came another order not to bury them any
longer, but to load them into the truck and drive them to the pit. When we were in the village
of Kljuc, we had two dead - Ilija Canak and Nikola Mircetic - who had been burnt down by a
stinger missile fired at close range. The truc k was driven to the pit at Drinovci which was
covered with concrete at the top. I did not know what it was for.
Then they gave us orders to throw them into the pit. We threw them by putting one body onto
canvas and then, four men carried it and threw th e bodies into the pit. When we had finished,
we drove by truck to Noskalik to catch a boat. There, we washed shovels and the other tools,
and cleaned ourselves. A man named MIROSLAV SUBOTIC was killed there. He was killed
377by a military police officer, Gojko Zivkovic, fro m Pokrovnik. He ordered him to walk about
20 meters and to turn, and then he fired a couple of shots at him. After that, four of us dug a
grave by the Krka River and we buried him there. Following this, we went to the Krka Falls
and from there onto the prison.
In prison, mistreatment was a daily occurrence. We also had to do hard labour and they hit us
on such jobs more than they did in the prison. When they wanted to extract some confession,
they electrocuted us. They loved to strip us na ked, to form a single file and walk over us.
They forced us to do calisthenics, to dance in a circle, to sing Ustasha songs and salute "For
Homeland Ready" and this routine was repeated day after day. We went from Sibenik to be
exchanged on 11 August 1992 and were held up at the port of Lora for about 5 or 6 hours,
where we were relentlessly beaten. The mistr eatment included their stepping onto our bare
feet with their boots, forcing us to eat the zest of oranges, forcing us to pick up cigarette butts
with our teeth, etc. They forced us, one by one , to do so, while shooting at us at the same
time.
After that, we travelled by bus to Zagreb where, at the Kerestinec camp, we were held for two
days. I have no objections to our treatment at the Kerestinec camp. From Kerestinec, we
headed for Nemetin where we were exchanged on 14 August 1992.
I have read the statement and I have no objections to it. Therefore, I sign it with my own
hand.
Statement taken by: Borka Torbica (Signed)
Statement given by: Nikola Nadoveza, LLB (Signed)
378379380 Kri.24/95
MINUTES OF WITNESS HEARING
taken on 7 May 1995 before the investigating magistrate of the Basic Court in Gradiska in the
criminal case against unknown persons, for co mmitting the criminal act punishable under
Article 142 of the Criminal Code.
CMkocdi, Witness
r a t e P , c i z o B
Court Recorder
Aleksandra Cvetkovic
The proceedings rose at 9:45 a.m.
Witness has been cautioned that he/she is bound to tell the truth and not to hold
anything back; he/she has been warned ag ainst the consequences of giving false
testimony and that he/she is not bound to an swer some of the questions asked, if he/she
is likely to put himself/herself or a close rela tive to utter disgrace, considerable material
damage or to be criminally prosecuted (Art icle 229 of the Criminal Procedure Code),
therefore, the witness has given the following answers to the general questions posed:
1) Name and surname: Bozic, Petar
2) Father’s name: Savo
3) Occupation: Carpenter
4) Address: temporarily residing in Nova Topola, municipality of Gradiska
5) Place of birth: Vrbovljani, municipality of Okucani
6) Year of birth: 11 January 1960
7) Relationship to the
accused and injured party: Bozic, P. (Signed)
I was born in the village of Vrbovljani where I lived and worked. I am married and have two
underage children. I used to live with my parent s, father Savo and moth er Milka in the same
household.
During the war in Croatia in 1991, I was in my native village and was aware that the Croatian
armed forces committed mass crimes against civilians in Masicka Sagovina. Some even say
that they killed more than 20 civilians. I did not witness these crimes myself. The victims I
know included Mladen Ozegovic and some members of the Milosavljevic family.
When, on 1 May 1995, the Croatian armed for ces suddenly attacked Western Slavonia,
around 5 a.m., I was in my home with my family and parents. During this attack, they shelled
even my village, although it was farthest from Okucani, and other villages that were the main
targets of the Croatian armed forces. My parents, wife and children, along with other civilians
from my village and other villa ges nearby, headed for Gradiska or Republika Srpska and
managed to cross the Sava River in the afternoon.
I remained behind in the village and joined my military unit which was deployed in the field
near Dubovac. On the evening of 1 May 1995, I can’t recall exactly what time it was, my unit got the assignment
to enter the village of Novi Varos and secure the passage of civilians from Novi Varos towards
the Strug waterway, which was used by the convoy of Serb civilians fleeing as refugees before the
attack of the Croatian armed forces. Meanwhile, we got the information that this road was blocked
by Croats and that, during the night, they had massacred civilians travelling in a convoy of
refugees, which came under attack in the stretch of 70 meters. That was why we pushed through
to get to that place, which I did only at 6 o’clock in the morning. We continued to fight back the
Croatian forces lined on both sides of the road in the Prasnik and Ljeskovaca woods, as well as in
the village of Novi Varos itself. However, we managed to get the civilian convoy through,
towards the destroyed bridge on the Strug waterway, but the convoy departed only around 11 a.m.
In the meantime, we had clashes with the Croatian forces that relentlessly shelled the stretch of the
road where there were civilians, and I noticed that they used aircraft to bomb civilians on the road.
I saw a large number of killed Serb civilians in the village of Novi Varos itself, as well as on its
outskirts, leading to the Strug waterway. In my own assessment, there were about 250 victims or
according to the accounts of some other eyewitnesses, the same number of victims also figured in
their assessments. I saw some 25 victims myself; I took them from the scene together with others
and I took only the victims that were scattered on the roadway, so that they would not be run over.
Among those victims, I recognized Vukadinovic,Zoran from Okucani; Milasinovic, Milan from
Rajic; Grubor, Janko from Okucani and Kesic, Anka,dahter of the SerbianOrthodox priest Savo
Pocuca from Okucani. Among those wounded, I recognized Savo Pocuca, priest from Okucani,
and Slobodan Stojanovic from Vrbovljani, bothwfhom are now hospitalized in Banja Luka.
Those who survived the unrelenting shelling by Croats managed to get via the Strug waterway
and the bridge to cross into Gradiska, to the territory of Republika Srpska.
I also saw with my own eyes in the village ofviaros itself, as well as on the road leading to the
Strug waterway, great many overturned and destroyed tractors, animal carts, cars and other vehicles.
Among these, there were also a few medical corps vehicles with distinct Red Cross emblems that
had also been shelled, although I was not able to see the victims in those medical vehicles.
Judging by what I saw and experienced on 1 and 2 May 1995, I can say, responsibly, that on
that occasion, the Croatian armed forces committed a large number of massive crimes against
Serb civilians in Western Slavonia.
In particular, I point out that great many civ ilians had remained behind in Western Slavonia,
who were either captured by Croats or are now sheltering in the woods, many of whom have
already been killed. Because I know the attitude of Croats towards Serbs in Western Slavonia
in the past and their attitudes even today, I reasonably assume that they will continue with
their crimes and genocide against the Serbian people.
This is all I had to say concerning the above -mentioned incident; the minute was dictated out
loud and it contains all I have said; I do not wish to read it; I recognize it as my own statement
and will sign it with my own hand.
Bozic, P. (Signed)
The hearing was adjourned at 12:45 p.m.
CO UERTORDER JUDGE
CveAk.ogiced) (SiMc.ed)
384385386387388 KRI. 103/95
MINUTES OF WITNESS HEARING
taken on 10 May 1995 before the investigating magistrate of the Basic Court in Banja Luka in
the criminal case against unknown persons.
InvestiMatigistrate
DjSotdjjaekovic
Court Recorder
Aleksandra Cvetkovic
The proceedings rose at 12:30 p.m.
Witness has been cautioned that he/she is bound to tell the truth and not to hold
anything back; he/she has been warned ag ainst the consequences of giving false
testimony and that he/she is not bound to an swer some of the questions asked, if he/she
is thereby likely to put himself/herself or a close relative to utter disgrace, considerable
material damage or to be criminally prosecuted (Article 227, paragraph 1,
subparagraphs 1-3, and Article 229 of the Criminal Procedure Code).
The witness has given the following answers to the questions posed:
1) Name and surname: Pocuca, Savo
2) Father’s name: Savo
3) Occupation: Priest of the Okucani parish, archpriest of the
SeOrrhohdorch
4) Place of birth: village of Kutjevo, municipality of Slavonska Pozega
Add5r)ess: temporarily resides in Banja Luka
6) Date of birth: 29 May 1947
7) Relationship to the accused
and injured party:
Archpriest Savo Pocuca (Signed)
I was born in the village of Kutjevo in th e municipality of Slavonska Pozega and, upon
finishing a seminary I worked as a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church in several places: in
1969 I worked in Gradiska and from 1983 to present I have been priest in Okucani. I am
married and have four children.
When the war broke out in the former Yugoslavia and the Croats committed an aggression
against the Serb population in Western Slavonia, I was in Okucani. During this war, I saw
with my own eyes many Serb victims who had been killed by Croats in this region. While
doing my duties, I performed funeral ceremonies for a large number of such victims,
including massacred ones in a most brutal and savage way. I shall name, among the most
brutal murders, that of the Keleula couple from the village of Borovac, Rajici parish, who
lived in Novska and were killed on 21 Oct ober 1991. On the same date, and on the same
scene, another married couple was also killed. I cannot recall their first and last names, as well
as an elderly man from Lovska. Their bodies were exchanged in April 1992 and transported to
391the graveyard in Borovac. While performing the funeral services for these victims, I saw that
they had been massacred in the most atrocious way. One of the killed women had her breast
cut through and put her arm into. All other vi ctims had massacred parts of their bodies, like
severed ears, noses or similar. There were also other like instances of killed and massacred
civilians and defenders of this region, whose specific names I cannot recall.
On the Serbian Christian Orthodox feast of pa tron saint, St. Nicholas, on 19 December 1991,
Croats, posing as former JNA soldiers and wearing their uniforms, took advantage of the local
Serbs’ festive mood in the villages of Masicka Sagovina and Sirinci to force their way into
these villages, fully armed, and committed an aggression killing 65 Serb villagers. A small
number of these victims were subsequently exchanged, while information on other victims is
still not known, even today. These victims were mainly massacred, too. UNPROFOR soldiers
did not allow these victims to be buried at local cemeteries. Therefore, their funerals took
place in Okucani and I performed the ceremonies, which were also attended by the family
members of victims. Some of the victims did not even have families, because all of them too
had probably been killed.
In my own parish church in Okucani, I kept the original copy of the “Proclamation” made by
Croats on forced population transfers within 24 hours, in 28 Serbian villages located in the area
of Pozega towards Kamenska, at the foot of Mt. Papuk. This “Proclamation” was issued on 28
August 1991 and I believe that a copy of this “Proclamation” can be found in the Patriarchate of
the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade, name ly, it is kept by Mr. Slobodan Mileusnic. I
know that the population of these villages had been forcibly moved out; that all the houses had
been destroyed and levelled to the ground by bulldozers so that practically no traces had been
left behind. I heard this myself from local pe ople who had managed to cross over into the
liberated territory of Western Slavonia. I remember that I have been told this, among others, by
the wife of Branko Kovac from the village of Oprsici, whose maiden name was Petrovic, and by
other people whose names I cannot recall right now. I do not know where this woman is now,
because she moved on in 1991 to other Serb-held territories seeking shelter.
At the end of September 1991, Croats perfidi ously attacked the village of Gredjani,
municipality of Okucani, killing 18 civilians, mainly elderly people, and setting about 50
houses on fire. I remember that one of the vic tims was Petar Calic, while the others I knew
only by sight. On the same date, Croats also attacked the village of Covac, killing several
civilians there. I cannot remember, now, their exact number and they torched some 30 Serbian
houses. I remember that they mutilated, then, among other people, Stevan Stancic, aged about
50. Among other things, for the sake of illustratio n of what perfidious methods Croats used, I
mention an instance in the village of Covac when they, during their attack against this village,
planted a landmine in a tractor and put it beside the road in the maize field. When the owner
of this tractor called for help Majstorovic’s son Milan, a 25-year-old young man, to pull the
tractor out with his own tractor, which he did, but at that moment the landmine blew off and
both men were killed on the spot.
On 1 May 1995 I was with my family at home, when Croats committed an aggression against
Western Slavonia. The episcope of Western Sl avonia, Mr. Lukijan, was with us because his
temporary seat was in Okucani from 1991 onwards, and he used to spend most of his time in
my home.
The local population was warned via local radio Okucani against possible shelling and
bombardment of villages, since first shells fell in the town itself and around it. Sometime
between 9 and 10 a.m., the radio broadcast th at the population should prepare for a possible
392evacuation but that they should stay put for the time being. This situa tion lasted all the time
until 1 p.m. or so. In the meantime, news came in that Croats were closing in from all sides
and that the defence lines still held. A number of civilians had, on their own initiative, left for
the village of Novi Varos or for Gradiska, travelling in various vehicles, but after 1 p.m.
initial evacuations were organized, primarily of children, women and elderly people.
Around 9 p.m. I drove my wife, three children and two other women from Okucani as well as
a student of theology, who happened to visit the episcope at the time, in my own car, and I
intended to get back to Okucani as soon as I could.
I was wearing my cloth and had a ll the other priest’s symbols. The episcope had remained in
my home in Okucani.
The following morning, on 2 May 1995, around 7.30 a.m., I was headed back in my car for
Okucani. In Gradiska Milka Kesic, a resident of Okucani, hopped in and sat on the front seat
to my right-hand side. I drove across the bridge over the Sava River and the Strug waterway
(“the new Sava”). As we entered the village of Novi Varos, all of a sudden we were sprayed
with a burst of machine gunfire from one of the first rows of one-storey houses by the
roadside to my right. Then we were attacked with small arms from 20-odd houses, also on my
right-hand side. Milka Kesic was instantly dead leaning to my side. I was hit with nine bullets
but I kept on driving until the car came to a stop itself. Still under heavy gunfire I managed to
get out of the car (Aleco Russian car) and ran for some 200 metres to the centre of the village
where I fell down. Right there, in front of me, I saw a terrible scene: A multitude of vehicles
on the road were on top of each other and many civilians beside them lay dead on the road.
Some felt their way between the cars disc oncertedly under small arms fire coming from
nearby houses and the Prasnik woods close by , as well as exposed to explosions from
grenades fired onto the road. Many vehicles were on fire. On both sides of the road there were
women, children and the elderly who had managed to take cover in the houses there.
From a house which was some ten metres away from me, civilians who had sheltered there
came out and rushed to help me. They took me to the nearby house; gave me first aid as much
as they could, and tried not to let me lapse into a coma by pouring water over me and calling
my name. They did not let me drink any water which I asked for, fearing the consequences.
I did not know how much time had passed until the units of the Army of the Republic of
Serbian Krajina came. They succeeded in pushing back the Croats from houses nearby to the
woods, where they continued their offensive. However, our army managed, though under heavy
fire, to open a passage to the Sava River and enable the survivors and wounded civilians to pull
out of that place of death. The civilians who were around me succeeded in taking me to a car in
which I was transported to the hospital in Gradiska and from there on to Banja Luka.
I cannot say how many civilians were dead in the village of Novi Varos, but I can say that there
were many women, children and elderly among them. I personally do not know what happened
to these victims later on, but I heard from people who came to the territory of Republika Srpska
that Croats had set their corpses alight and destroyed the traces of this atrocity.
Among those who assisted me I know Dusa nka Kovacevic and her daughter, both from
Okucani, a young man nicknamed “Kliki”, also from Okucani, who was incidentally a refugee
from Lipik, and others whose names I cannot re call for the moment. Dusanka Kovacevic and
her daughter are most probably now in Nova Topola, and for the rest of them, I am not sure.
393Among those wounded, I saw Vaso Raus; Milan Martinovic, a driver, and many others whose
names I cannot recall either, although I know them very well by sight. Also, among the dead I
saw Momcilo Dojic and his wife, Ostoja Deja novic, a man surnamed Vukasinovic and some
others whose names I cannot recall right now.
The fact that I am still in a terrible psychological state of shock explains why I am unable to
remember the names of other wounded and killed or surviving people.
My Aleco car, registration OK-22-28, had stayed in the above described place, riddled with
bullets.
My family members and episcope of Western Slavonia Mr. Lukian managed to pull out of
Okucani via the bridge over the Sava River near Gradiska, on 2 May 1995, also under fire
from the Croatian armed forces.
While I was still in Okucani, I saw that the church and the parish house where I lived had
been damaged by Croatian shells and that the window glass had been smashed.
I managed to take out some of the church documents, although most of the records and other
documents had remained behind, including the bi shopric archive. My seals were also left
behind.
In my home, I left all the furniture I had aall the clothing that I and my family could not
take with us, including a BMW car and another, ol der type of Aleco car. I used to have eight
pigs, two sheep, four lambs, two goats and one kid (baby goat), which I also left behind. Of
farm machinery I used to have a cultivator, a disk harrow, a tractor trailer, a car trailer, a
double-furrow ploughshare and others.
The survived Serbian population of Western Sl avonia left in their lands an innumerable
number of victims and the material wealth that they had acquired until then.
I demand that the perpetrators of the above described crimes be brought to justice and
punished accordingly.
This is all what I had to say in this connection; the minute was di ctated out loud and it
included all I had said; I do not wish to read it; I recognize it as my own statement and sign it
with my own hand.
Archpriest Savo Pocuca (Signed)
The hearing was adjourned at 3:15 p.m.
CO UERCORDER JUDGE
AleksCaverkogiced) Djordje Stojakovic (Signed)
394395396397398399400401405409410411412 Public Statements that directly provoked the Perpetrators to commit Genocide against
the Serbs in Croatia
1. Dr Franjo Tudjman, President of the Republic of Croatia, during the first election campaign
in 1989:
“Thank God, my wife is neither a Serb nor a Jew.” 1
2. Dr Franjo Tudjman, Wastelands of Historical Reality, Zagreb, 1990:
“Seen from this point of view – and this can only account for the incessant repetition of
historical events – such violent even genocidal changes that were made also after the end of the
Second World War always bring about dual consequences. On the one hand, they inevitably
deepen historical discord. (....) On the other ha nd, they bring about ethnic homogenization of
some peoples, leading to more harmony in the national composition of the population and state
borders of individual countries, thus also having possible positive impact on developments in the
future, in the sense of fewer reasons for fresh violence and pretexts for the outbreak of new
2
conflicts and international friction.”
3. Šime Djodan, Special Envoy of the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, in his speech at a
traditional competition in Sinj held in August 1991:
3
“The Serbs had pointed heads and probably also small brains.”
4. Marjan Jurić, Deputy in the Croatian Parliament, at a session held on 1-3 August 1991:
"But I am asking these same Serbs whether it wi ll dawn on them when they - and I am just
wondering - and I’m not making a statement[sic!]- whether they would come to their senses if ten
civilians were executed for one k illed policeman or if a hundred civilians were killed for one
1 See L. Silber and A. Little, The Death of Yugoslavia, BBC Books, London, 1995, p. 86 (Annex 1 to the
Preliminary Objections); also, E. Zuroff, Operation Last Chance, New York, 2009, p. 134.
2 F. Tudjman, Wasteland of Historical Reality (Bespuca povijesne zbiljnosti), Nakladni zavod Matice Hrvatske,
3agreb, 1990, p. 163; quoted in Viktor Ivančić, Točka na U, Split, 1998.
N. Barić, Serb Rebellion in Croatia 1990-1995 (Srpska pobuna u Hrvatskoj 1990-1995. ), Zagreb, 2005, p. 137.
415soldier! This is something that my Christian, Catholic faith would not let me, because Father
Stanko Bogeljic has taught me that there is one commandment in those ten commandments:
“thou shall not kill”, and it does not allow me to say that this is right, but it would be right for me
if ten Serb intellectuals would get the sack in Zagreb, Rijeka, Split or Osijek for every policeman
killed. For, intellectuals cannot go to the woods. They are not like those ignorant Banija peasants
who could go to bed without washing their feet fora month! Intellectuals must be sacked, because
Chetnik ringleaders live in the bg i cities and we must prevent it. [...] Our almighty God has created
at the same time both good people and a lot of vermin. One of such verm in is the moth which,
when let into the closet, in fact when it comes into it, it eats at the shirt, then it turns to the
pullover; it eats and eats until it has eaten everything away. The same is true of those who came to
4
us as our guest-workers."(Deputy Jurić ended his speech with a raised hand in a fascist-style salute).
5. Krešimir Dolenčić, Director of "Gavella“ Theatre in Zagreb, in his article in daily Danas,
Zagreb, 12 November 1991:
“Beasts from the East stand no chance. A monkey smashes everything around the house
and it is all the same to the animal whether it smashed a glass or a Chinese vase, because
it is unable to tell the difference. There is no way that the monkey has any chances in the
fight against the human. There will always be a way to put it to sleep and place it in a
cage where it belongs.[...] The distinction between us and them is like between computers
of the first and the fifth generation. They should either be held in captivity or destroyed,
because nothing better could be expected of them. There could not be much talk or
negotiation with them. I am convinced that their culture is below the primitive level,
since primitive cultures can be interesting and rich spiritually.” 5
6. Dubravko Horvatić, Croatian academic and writer, in his article Matoš o Srbiji published in
daily Večernji list, Zagreb, 17 June 1992:
“Matoš [Croatian poet]taught both his contemporaries and the generations to come what
Serbia is and what it is like. On reading him today, we discover that the experience tells us
how much Matoš was right in sayn ig that Serbia is the winner ofthe ‘world championship of
killing and serious crimes’.[...] However, by stp riping the mask off Serbia he has enormously
helped us to learn the lesson that is partic ularly relevant today: in order for Croats and
other nations to be able to survive, Seriba must be totally and utterly defeated.”6
4
5Reprinted in J. Bošković, NDH drugi put – LUX Croatiae, Belgrade, 1999, pp. 62-63 (Tab. 1).
6See Tab. 2.
See Tab. 3.
4167. Zvonimir Šekulin, Editor-in-chief of Hrvatski vijesnik , in his interview published in
magazine Globus, Zagreb, on 9 September 1994:
“Considering that the "Hrvatski Vijesnik" really runs a column entitled ‘hard-core Serb
pornographic pages’, I also admit that this newspaper is in part pornographic as the
Serbs themselves are pornography.
Photograph of Patriarch Pavle [Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church], published on these
pages, is more pornographic than the photos of the biggest whores.[…] [ name] wrote
that I said that some people were vermin. But I say that only the so-called Serbian people
7
are vermin.”
7
See Tab.4.
417418419420421422423424
volume III