Belgrade Court Ovcara Episode Is A Disaster

The Croatian PM pointed out this trial shows that the Serbian justice system is prepared to head such trials.

The Special Court in Belgrade for war crimes has sentenced 13 former members of the Territorial Defence and paramilitary units to prison sentences ranging from 5 to 20 years, acquitting five defendants at a retrial for the massacre in Ovcara.

The Ovcara massacre took place when the Serb-dominated Yugoslav People`s Army overran the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar in November 1991 after a siege lasting months.

President of the Croatian Association of Concentration

I believe it is good that this trial in Belgrade has shown that there is a justice system in Serbia which is prepared to head such trials.

Croatian PM Ivo Sanader

- 200 persons were killed in Ovcara and even once innocent life taken in such a way is a horrible crime – Danijel Rehak said, adding that Croatian state bodies should apply even more pressure to all factors that can have the justice being satisfied.

Furthermore, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic commented on the verdicts, saying that anything than reduces responsibility of those guilty for the greatest crimes in Croatia is to be condemned.

- I cannot comment on first-degree verdicts anywhere, including outside Croatia, but I believe that this is a crime of such propulsions that it must be a warning to everyone never to do it again – the president said.

Acquitted persons include Vujo Zlatar, Predrag Madjarac, Marko Ljuboja, Slobodan Katic and Milorad Pejic, while Milan Lancuzanin`s sentence was reduced from 20 years to 6, because of which he will soon leave prison, together with Predrag Dragovic, whose sentence was reduced from 20 years to 5. The Prosecution has already announced an appeal to the District Court`s provision, due to drastically reduced sentences.

Still, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was not so critical:

- I believe it is good that this trial in Belgrade has shown that there is a justice system in Serbia which is prepared to head such trials – Sanader said.

Dragutin Guzovski, Vukovar defender from Mitnica, emotionally reacted to the verdict, who was imprisoned and taken to Ovcara camp with a group of Croat defenders, but fortunately, he was registered by the International Red Cross and taken to Sremska Mitrovica camp.

- A 10-month prison sentence for one human life – Guzovski was embittered.

- What sort of a verdict is this? And five acquitted persons. If the Serbian Supreme Court again cancels the verdict, like it did in the first case, everyone will get away unpunished – Guzovski said, calling the Belgrade episode on Ovcara a disaster.

Milorad Pupovac, representative of the Independent Democratic Serbian Party at the Croatian Parliament said he believes the court provision was good.

- It is a good thing that the court has again reached the verdict for 13 defendants and I hope this will set the path for the conviction of others who have committed war crimes against members of the Croatian people and other nationalities. I hope this will contribute to unbiased trials for war crimes in the area of entire former Yugoslavia – Pupovac said.

When asked to compare this verdict to the lenient one of Veselin Sljivancanin for Ovcara in The Hague, he said he would not care to compare two courts, especially in a campaign being led about the work of courts.

- Courts should make people free from war trauma and losses and create a feeling of justice and righteousness. This verdict heads in that direction, but it cannot stop there or anywhere – Milorad Pupovac concluded.

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