Crime in Ovčara (Saša Radak)
The trial against the defendant Saša Radak, accused of the commission of a war crime against war prisoners in 1991 at the Ovčara farm, was held before the War Crimes Chamber of the Special Department of the District Court in Belgrade from 7 July 2005 to 7 September 2006. The verdict before appeal (first instance) was reached sentencing the defendant to 20 years in prison.
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Serbia quashed the first instance court verdict and the Saša Radak case was merged with the Miroljub Vujović et al. case that was tried before the District Court in Belgrade Special Department’s War Crimes Chamber comprising Veselin Krstajić (the President) and Gordana Božilović-Petrović and Vinka Beraha-Nikičević (the Chamber members).
INDICTMENT (SUMMARY)
The Indictment charged the defendant Saša Radak that, on 20 and 21 November 1991 at the Ovčara farm in Vukovar, as a member of one volunteer group under the former JNA, together with the Territorial Defence Vukovar members and the “Leva Supoderica” volunteer unit members (tried in the separated court proceedings), was inflicting physical injuries, treating inhumanely and killing war prisoners from the Vukovar hospital. The defendant was beating war prisoners running in the gauntlet and in the hangar. In the formed firing squad, he was shooting prisoners at Grabovo and before the hangar in Ovčara. He thereby participated in the killing of 200 persons (out of which 192 had been identified).
You can read the indictment of the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia here. (in Croatian)
TRIAL MONITORING REPORTS
Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia raised the Indictment No. KTRZ 4/03 issued on 13 April 2005. The trial began on 7 July 2005. During the presentation of evidence, video-recordings obtained from the ICTY (the Hague) were examined.
The attachment contains the reports on all hearings in the first trial. The regional monitoring team had monitored the trial.
VERDICT
On 7 September 2006, the War Crimes Chamber (comprising: judge Vesko Krstajić, Chamber President, judges Vinka Beraha Nikičević and Gordana Petrović Božilović) pronounced the verdict sentencing the defendant Saša Radak to 20 years in prison.
On 10 April 2007, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Serbia quashed the verdict in which Saša Radak was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison, due to incorrect and incomplete establishment of facts.
On 12 February 2009 in the repeated trial, following the merging of the case with the case of other accused persons for the crime in Ovčara, the defendant Radak was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
