Crime in Ovčara (Damir Sireta)
On 23 June 2009, the War Crimes Chamber of the District Court in Belgrade sentenced Damir Sireta to a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years for the commission of a war crime in 1991 at the Ovčara farm near Vukovar against 200 (identified 193) Croatian prisoners of war.
On 20 September 2010, it was publicly announced that the War Crimes Department of the Appellate Court in Belgrade reduced from 20 to 15 years the prison term to Sireta.
INDICTMENT
The 17 October 2008 Indictment issued by the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor charged Damir Sireta that he, as a member of the Territorial Defence Vukovar, participated in the firing squad which was executing the killing of war prisoners at the “Grabovo” pit at Ovčara near Vukovar.
See the Indictment (in Croatian language) here (PDF 101 KB).
GENERAL INFORMATION
District Court in Belgrade
Department: War Crimes Chamber
Chamber: judge Vesko Krstajić, Chamber President; judges Vinka Beraha Nikičević and Snežana Nikolić Garotić, Chamber Members
Indictment: issued on 17 October 2008 by the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor
Criminal act: a war crime against war prisoners, under Article 144 of the FRY Criminal Act, in conjunction with Article 22 of the same Act
Defendant: Damir Sireta
Victima: 200 killed Croatian war prisoners
THE TRIAL HISTORY OF THE CASE
On 8 May 2008, Damir Sireta was extradited from Norway to Serbian judiciary. He was arrested in Norway in December 2006. The trial in his case began on 23 December 2008. Five hearings were held and seven witnesses were heard. The trial was concluded. It ended on 18 June with final speeches.
For the reason of trial’s cost-effectiveness, trial in the Sireta case was separated from the criminal proceedings against 18 persons who received a first instance verdict on 12 March 2009 for the same event, for the second time. Thirteen persons were sentenced to a total of 193 years in prison, whereas five persons were acquitted of charges. On 1 March 2007 in a separated trial, Milan Bulić, as a member of the Territorial Defence Vukovar, was sentenced with a legally binding verdict for the commission of war crime in Ovčara to two years in prison for treating with cruelty the war prisoners.
For the crime committed in 1991 in Vukovar, Sireta was sentenced in his absence to 12 years in prison in the Republic of Croatia.
VERDICT
On the basis of the first instance verdict, the defendant Damir Sireta was found guilty and sentenced to a (maximum) term of imprisonment of 20 years.
On 20 September 2010, it was publicly announced that the War Crimes Department of the Appellate Court in Belgrade reduced from 20 to 15 years the prison term to Sireta.
