Slavica to be tried for deaths of 12 firefighters

Criminal proceedings against Drazen Slavica in Sibenik County Court were suspended by a special Council in June of 2009.

The Supreme Court ordered the continuation of criminal proceedings against Drazen Slavica, the former fire station commander of the Sibenik-Knin county, the spokesperson of the Supreme Court and a county court in Sibenik confirmed for the hrt.hr.

Criminal proceedings against Slavica in Sibenik County Court were suspended by a Special Court  Council in June of 2009. Following complaints filed by the State Attorney's Office, the Supreme Court reversed that decision and requested the scheduling of major debate.

Slavica sent juveniles and civil conscript to fight fires

This confirms the indictment which charges Slavica for series of failures that led to committing a crime against public safety during the fire extinguishing on the island of Kornati in late August of 2007.  During this incident, 12 firefighters lost their lives.

The indictment charges him that, as commander of the Fire Board of Sibenik-Knin County and the JVP Sibenik fire-fighters, he organized firefighting groups composed of members of the Sibenik Public Fire Brigade and volunteers from Tisno Vodice and Zablace.

Slavica was also responsible for sending juvenile and civil Conscripts to extinguish fires in the Kornati - even though they were never trained for such tasks. By doing this, Slavica violated the Law on Protection at Work, the Law on Firefighting and Labor Law.

According to the indictment, after he was told that the firefighters were surrounded by fire, Slavica still failed to notify 112 emergency Center in Sibenik.