Serbian court dismissed the compensation claim to former Croatian POWs / War Crime Trials

Biweekly Report on War Crime Trials, Osijek, Zagreb, 14 February 2014 – Serbian court dismissed the compensation claim to former Croatian POWs / The First Basic Court in Belgrade, dismissed the compensation claims against the Republic of Serbia filed by the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) in 2007 on behalf of 12 Croatian citizens for torture they endured in the ex-JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army) prison camps in Sremska Mitrovica and Begejci in 1991. The HLC attorney has lodged an appeal with the Court of Appeal in Belgrade against the decision of the First Basic Court. The First Basic Court in Belgrade dismissed the claim on statute of limitation grounds, as the former prisoners failed to bring their claim for damages within the statutory time-limit, which expired five years after the end of their imprisonment.

Perković extradited to Germany / After the Zagreb County Court on 08 January 2014 approved extradition of Josip Perković to the Federal Republic of Germany in accordance with the European arrest warrant, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia on 17 January 2014 rejected the appeals lodged by the State Attorney’s Office and Josip Perković as unfounded. Soon afterwards, Perković’s defence counsel submitted the constitutional complaint, however the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia on 24 January 2014 dismissed the claim. On the same day, Perković was extradited to Germany.

Trial/court hearings have commenced in the criminal proceedings against Josip Boljkovac / On 05 February 2014, the trial /court hearings/ commenced before the War Crime Council of the Zagreb County Court in the criminal proceedings against 93-year-old Josip Boljkovac, charged, in his capacity as Chief of Commission of the People’s Protection Department (OZNA) for the Town of Karlovac and the Karlovac District, according to his responsibilities, with arrests and executions of 21 civilians from Duga Resa suspected of collaboration with Ustasha administration.

Former Nazi concentration camps guard has lived in Osijek for more than 20 years / During January 2014, a series of texts on Jakov Dencinger, a 90-year-old man from Osijek, was published in Jutarnji list. It was stated that Dencinger was a former guard deployed at the Nazi concentration camps in Auschwitz, Mauthausen, Buchenwald and Plaszow. Since 1956, Dencinger was living in the United States of America whose citizenship he had been granted in 1972, however, after receiving the information on his Nazi past, the proceedings for deprivation of citizenship and Dencinger’s deportation from the United States was undertaken in 1989. In its public statement issued on 30 January 2014, the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia, avoiding the disclosure of the person’s identity, stated that the Osijek County State Attorney’s Office was conducting enquiries. The competent bodies of the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States’ authorities, as well as the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, were kindly requested to forward the documentation.  

Indictment laid against former Serb Territorial Defence commander from Vojnić who is currently unavailable to the Croatian judiciary  

Former Drmaljevo Detention Camp Chief has been arrested in Rijeka

Person accused of commission of crimes against ethnic Croats in the villages along the Una river has been arrested in Austria and placed in detention pending extradition / At the end of January 2014, several Croatian internet portals published the article stating that a person accused of war crimes – Leonardo Janković – was arrested in Austria where he was ordered and placed under detention pending extradition.

News from the ICTY / Convictions for Kosovo crimes upheld for Serb political and military leaders / The Šainović et al. Case / The Đorđević case

The Office of the Prosecutor filed a motion for reconsideration of the acquitall in the Perišić case / On 3 February 2014, the ICTY’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) filed a motion requesting a reconsideration of the acquittal of Momčilo Perišić for aiding and abetting crimes committed n Sarajevo and Srebrenica between 1993 and 1995. Perišić was first convicted to 27 years of imprisonment by the first instance judgement but later in February 2013, the Appeals Chamber acquitted Perišić of all charges.

In the attachment below, there is the electronic version of the report.

Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past