Crime in Beli Manastir

Trials in Serbia :: Ongoing trials

On 1 November 2010 began the main hearing before the Higher Court in Belgrade in the trial against four former members of Serb formations indicted for a commission of war crime against civilians in the second half of 1991 in the area of former Municipality Beli Manastir.


INDICTMENT (SUMMARY)

According to the Indictment issued by the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia, accused persons Zoran Vukšić, Slobodan Strigić, Branko Hrnjak and Velimir Bertić are charged that they, in their capacity as members of the Special Operation Police Unit of the so called SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia, in the then Municipality Beli Manastir area during the second half of 1991, killed at least six civilians of non-Serb ethnicity. They are also charged that they unlawfully imprisoned civilians, caused them physical injuries, intimidated, terrorised, tortured and treated them inhumanely.

In 2008, the State Attorney's Office of the Republic of Croatia transferred the case file to the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia on the basis of the Agreement on the cooperation in the prosecution of perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of genocide.


VERDICT

On 19 June 2012, the court pronounced its first-instance verdict and found the defendants guilty. The received the following prison sentences: Vukšić - a maximum of 20 years, Strigić - 10, Hrnjak 5 and Bertić - 1 year and six months in prison.

The Belgrade Appeals Court quashed the first-instance verdict of the Higher Court and ordered retrial in the case of three defendants. The first-instance verdict was quashed in respect of defendants Zoran Vukšić, Slobodan Strigić and Branko Hrnjak, while the sentence of one year and six months of imprisonment in the case of defendant Vladimir Bertić was confirmed.



  • Monitoring War Crimes Trials:

Annual Report for 2012

Annual Report for 2011

Report for the period January-May 2011

Annual Report for 2010

Report for the period January-May 2010

Annual Report for 2009

Report for the period January-May 2009

Regional report 2004-2008.

Annual report for 2008

Report for the period January-June 2008

Annual report for 2007

Annual report for 2006.

Annual report for 2005.

Quarterly Reports

Report for January - March 2013

Report for May - August 2012
Annex to the Report: Overview of the monitored war crime trials 

Report for January - April 2012
Annex to the Report: Overview of the monitored war crime trials

Bi-monthly Reports

January and February 2012

September and October 2011

July and August 2011

May and June 2011

March and April 2011

January and February 2011

Monitoring team:

Veselinka Kastratović
Mladen Stojanović
Jelena Đokić Jović
Maja Kovačević Bošković
Marko Sjekavica
Milena Čalić Jelić
Miren Špek

Contact person:

Mladen Stojanović

In cooperation with:

Documenta Zagreb
Citizens Committee for Human Rights Zagreb
Humanitarian Law Centre Belgrade
Research and Documentation Centre Sarajevo

This project is funded by the European Union. The contents of these documents are the sole responsibility of the Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

euzastava

This project is also funded by:
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Zagreb
Embassy of the Republic of Finland in Zagreb

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OSCE Office in Zagreb
Embassy of Australia in Zagreb