Biweekly Report on War Crime Trials / 17 October 2013
Burial of victims recently exhumed from a mass grave in Sotin / On 14 October 2013, the remains of eleven victims exhumed in April from two mass graves in Sotin were buried at the Sotin cemetery. The mortal remains from one victim was buried in Osijek and one in Vinkovci. All thirteen victims were killed on 27 December 1991 by members of the Territorial Defence Sotin. Location of the site with the bodies of victims was indicated by an ex-TO Sotin member, charged by the Serbian prosecution for the alleged crime. During the Homeland war, 64 villagers of Sotin were killed. Eighteen more Sotin victims are still missing.
The fate of 1689 missing persons and the position of minorities were the central topics during the visit by President Josipović to Serbia on 16 and 17 October 2013. This was the President’s first visit to Serbia after Tomislav Nikolić’s election as Serbian president in May 2012.
Croatian Government has been given an ultimatum – a threat by violence and lawlessness / It is irresponsible to use Cyrillic script as a means of creating intolerance and lawlessness. Constitution and laws should be respected and implemented. Establishing the rights of national minorities, including the rights of Serbs to use Serbian language and Cyrillic script, is a test of respect and tolerance for Vukovar and entire Croatia. Building of interethnic trust can alleviate the burden of the past – to contribute to the readiness to testify about crimes committed by members of the “own side” and to reveal the truth about the tragedy and burial places of the missing persons
Statistical data on detained defendants / In the last quarter (July-September 2013), main hearings were pending before county courts in 14 trials for war crimes (7 against members of Serb- and 7 against members of the Croatian military units). In those trials, 8 members of Serb- and 10 members of the Croatian forces were accused. Out of the mentioned eight members of Serb military units, five are available and attend trials, while three members are tried in their absence (in absentia). All ten members of Croatian military units attend trials .
More than one year after the submission of the request, the Republic of Croatia has written off Vjera Solar’s debt which occurred as a result of the lost civil lawsuit / By the decision of the Ministry of Finance dated on 24 September 2013, the Republic of Croatia waived its claims and the debt of Vjera Solar in the amount of 11,975.00 kuna, which was a result of the lost civil lawsuit
A former member of Serb military formations arrested on suspicion that he had ordered the killing of 83-year-old civilian
Almost two years after the commencement of the trial, the court hearings in criminal proceedings for the crime in Grubori will start anew
In the attachment below, there is the electronic version of the report.
