Trial against Tihomir Kašanin, charged with war crime against civilians referred to in Article 120, paragraph 1 of the OKZRH.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Osijek County Court

Case file no.: K-2/2012

War Crimes Council: judge Zvonko Vekić, Council President; judges Nikola Sajter and Damir Krahulec, Council Members

Indictment: no. KT-136/94 issued by the Osijek County State Attorney's Office, amended by the memo issued on 26 February 2013

Prosecution: Miroslav Dasović, Osijek County Deputy State's Attorney

Criminal offence: war crime against civilians referred to in Article 120, paragraph 1 of the OKZRH

Defendant: Tihomir Kašanin, available, extradited from Great Britain

Defence counsel: Dubravko Marjanović, lawyer practicing in Osijek

Victims - maltreated: Mato Filipović and Franjo Verner

INDICTMENT (SUMMARY)

The defendant is charged that he, in his capacity as member of armed rebellion in Vardarac and Beli Manastir during August and September 1991, participated in intimidation, cruel physical and mental maltreatment of non-Serb population in Baranja. As member of SUP[1] Beli Manastir, he was depriving them of freedom, carrying out their arrests, battering and bringing to SUP Beli Manastir's prison where they were physically maltreated and he was personally maltreating them physically. On 29 August 1991 in Vardarac, together with two more civilians, he apprehended Mato Filipović and took him tied up by truck to prison whereby he was forced to lie on his stomach and he was battered there by one Militia member. In this prison, together with two more Militia members, he was beating and kicking Franjo Verner, who had been arrested on 10 September 1991, using gunstocks, arms and legs, inflicting thus multiple injuries.

TRIAL MONITORING REPORTS

Trial monitoring reports are available in Croatian: BARANJA (Kasanin) - izvjestaji s pracenja glavne rasprave

VERDICT

The Osijek County Deputy State's Attorney amended the factual and legal description of the offence and, subsequently, charged defendant Tihomir Kašanin with armed rebellion referred to in Article 235, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law Act of the Republic of Croatia. Following this amendment, the War Crimes Council applied the General Amnesty Act and rendered the verdict rejecting the charge against the defendant.

The defendant was released from detention.