Crime in Maja and Svračica
On 13 November 2009, before the Sisak County Court, following the conducted re-opened procedure, the defendant Milan Španović was found guilty and sentenced to 3 years and 5 months in prison for a war crime against civilians.
In 1993, he was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison.
On 28 September 2010, the session of the Council of the Croatian Supreme Court was held. The 13 November 2009 verdict reached by the War Crimes Council of the Sisak County Court was quashed and the case was reversed for a retrial.
After repeated proceedings at first instance, the Zagreb County Court’s War Crimes Council pronounced the verdict on 14 March 2013. With this verdict, the court has abrogated the prior final verdict, rendered by the Sisak County Court on 17 November 1993 in which the defendant was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison, and rendered the acquittal.
INDICTMENT
The indictment issued by the Sisak District State’s Attorney’s Office No. KT-53/93 of 13 August 1993 charged Dušan Gavrilović, Milan Radaković, Milan Dabić, Mirko Dabić, Milan Sladović, Dušan Španović, Milan Španović, Stojan Jelić, Stanko Jelić, Milan Galjen, Momir Vukičević, Dragan Prusac, Nikola Janus, Jovica Vinčić, Dragan Jakovović, Stevo Varkaš, Đuro Pavlica, Milan Podunavac and Slavko Zrakić that on 18 August 1991, in Maja and Svračica, as members of chetnik-terrorist formations of the so-called “SAO Krajina”, participating in the armed rebellion against the Republic of Croatia, contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilians in Time of War, having arrived to these villages fully armed they opened fire at these villages using mortars and guns. While doing so, they abused unarmed villagers of Croatian ethnicity in different degrading manners: they searched them, their houses and economic facilities, took away money, food and items from their houses and economic facilities, set the houses and economic facilities, social and religious facilities on fire and destroyed them. They forcefully took the-then 600 dinars from Katarina Brdarić, from the basement of her house they took a motor saw and salami and from the yard of her house they took a truck of “Mercedes” brand, license plates SI 807-61, owned by her son Ivo Brdarić. They were beating Ivo Matijević inflicting physical injuries upon him, mined and destroyed the village home and the village shop, set on fire the house and hayloft owned by Mirko Brdarić, the hayloft owned by Marijan Nogić, the house owned by Marko Lamza, took away a korn picker and other agricultural machines from him, set on fire the house and tractor owned by Matija Davidović, the hayloft owned by Slavko Davidović, the house and hayloft owned by Mijo Tonči, the hayloft, tractor and a trailer owned by Stevo Davidović, the yard building owned by Milan Lončarić, took away a tractor and a motor saw from Mato Mladenović, while from other houses they took away and seized tractors and TV sets, VCRs and other items suitable for taking away, thus, having violated the rules of the international law during an armed conflict, they tortured civilians and caused them injuries to physical integrity, looted civilians’ property, demolished and destroyed houses and economic facilities, social and religious facilities,
whereby they committed a criminal act against humanity and international law – war crime against civilians referred to in Article 120, paragraph 1 of the Basic Criminal Law of the RoC (hereinafter: the OKZ RH).
You can see the indictment issued by the Sisak District State’s Attorney’s Office No. KT-53/93 of 13 August 1993 here (PDF, 2,23 MB). (in Croatian)
THE COURSE OF THE PREVIOUS PROCEDURE
The Sisak District Court, in the verdict passed on 17 November 1993, found all nineteen defendants guilty and sentenced each of them in absentia to 20 (twenty) years in prison.
The court-appointed defence counsel did not lodge an appeal against the aforementioned verdict thus, following the expiration of the appellate deadline, the verdict became legally valid.
On 19 August 2009, Milan Španović was extradited to the Republic of Croatia from the Great Britain. He was living in the village of Carshalton in the district of Surrey in the Great Britain, and after he was arrested for shoplifting in October 2006 in Sutton, the British police discovered that the Republic of Croatia had issued an international arrest warrant for him. Since then, a procedure had been conducted before the British judiciary for his extradition to the Republic of Croatia.
GENERAL DATA
Sisak County Court
War Crime Council: Judge Snježana Mrkoci, Council President; Judge Predrag Jovanić, Council member; Judge Željko Mlinarić, Council member
Case: K-31/09
Indictment: issued by the Sisak District State’s Attorney’s Office No. KT-53/93, of 13 August 1993
Criminal act: war crime against civilians referred to in Article 120, paragraph 1 of the OKZ RH
Prosecution: Marijan Zgurić, Sisak County Deputy State’s Attorney
The defendant: Milan Španović, has been detained in the Sisak Prison since his extradition from the Great Britain on 19 August 2009
Defence counsels: Antonio Kaleb, a lawyer practising in Sisak and Silvije Degen, a lawyer practising in Zagreb
Victims:
– beaten: Ivo Matijević
– burned economic and/or housing facilities and/or seized items: Katarina Brdarić, Ivo Brdarić, Mirko Brdarić, Marijan Nogić, Marko Lamza, Matija Davidović, Slavko Davidović, Mijo Tonča, Stevo Davidović, Milan Lončarić and Mato Mladenović
REPORTS FROM THE HEARING
The main hearing in the re-opened procedure commenced on 5 October 2009. Hearings took place on 6 and 7 October and on 12 and 13 November.
VERDICT
On 13 November 2009, the Council partially quashed the verdict from 1993 in which the defendant Milan Španović was validly sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison. The verdict was quashed in the sentencing section, so that the defendant was sentenced to three years and five months in prison in a new verdict.
Since this is precisely the amount of time that the defendant had spent in the extradition detention in the UK and in prison and detention in Sisak, a decision was passed pursuant to which detention was cancelled and the defendant was immediately released.
On 28 September 2010, the session of the Council of the Croatian Supreme Court was held. The 13 November 2009 verdict reached by the War Crimes Council of the Sisak County Court was quashed and the case was reversed for a retrial.
After repeated proceedings at first instance, the Zagreb County Court’s War Crimes Council pronounced the verdict on 14 March 2013. With this verdict, the court has abrogated the prior final verdict, rendered by the Sisak County Court on 17 November 1993 in which the defendant was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison, and rendered the acquittal.
