Court sentences Vukovar war crimes convicts

13/12/2005

The Belgrade war crimes court has reach its first ever verdict. Fourteen people were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms for their roles in the 1991 Ovcara massacre.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 13/12/05

The Vukovar sentencing is the Belgrade District Court's War Crimes Council's first since its inception in 2003. [AFP]

The Belgrade District Court's War Crimes Council has reached its first verdict since its founding in 2003. On Monday (12 December), it sentenced 14 people found guilty of war crimes against Croats in 1991 to a total of 231 years in prison.

Eight defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison, while three were given 15 years in prison each. The suspects were on trial for the summary execution of Croatian prisoners, who were taken to the Ovcara farm outside Vukovar and shot to death after the town fell to Serb forces.

One of the accused received a sentence of 12 years, and one got five. The only woman among them, Nada Kalaba, was sentenced to nine years in prison. The trial chamber, headed by Judge Vesko Krstajic, acquitted two defendants -- Marko Ljuboja and Slobodan Katic.

All of the indictees were members of the Serb armed units in Croatia at the time the crimes were committed. The forces were under the command of the former Yugoslav People's Army, which received orders from Belgrade.

Between 3,000 to 5,000 people, mostly civilians, are believed to have died during the 86-day battle in Vukovar. The POW's killings were committed in late November 1991. The Hague tribunal has indicted former Vukovar Mayor Slavko Dokmanovic, three former Yugoslav People's Army officers -- Mile Mrksic, Veselin Sljivancanin and Miroslav Radic -- and former regional government head Goran Hadzic for crimes committed during the fighting.

The Ovcara trial began on 9 March 2004. The verdict mainly was based on the statements of two witness-collaborators, whose identities were not revealed during the trial.

"Everybody will question the statements of the people who themselves committed a crime," said Judge Vesko Krstajic, while adding that these individuals had proved to be "the necessary instrument in resolving such grave crimes".

Vukovar Territorial Defence Commander Miroljub Vujovic and his deputy, Stanko Vujanovic, received the maximum penalties for organising the killings.

Prosecutor's Office for War Crimes spokesman Bruno Vekaric told Belgrade media that justice had been served. "The entire proceedings were conducted in keeping with world standards, which shows that the Serbian judiciary is capable of coping with high-risk cases like this one," Vekaric said.