Trial against Jovo Savić, charged with war crime against civilians and war crime against prisoners of war.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Osijek District Court

Case file no.: K-129/92

Judges' panel: judge Ružica Šamota, presiding; judge Danijel Zubović, member; lay judges Đuro Vidaković, Josip Kramar and Mato Erceg, members

Indictment: no. KT-154/92 of 10 November 1992 issued by the Osijek District State Attorney's Office

Criminal offence: war crime against civilians referred to in Article 142 of the OKZRH and war crime against prisoners of war referred to in Article 144 of the OKZRH

Defendant: Jovo Savić, unavailable

Defence counsel: Antun Radman, lawyer practicing in Osijek

Victims - killed: eight unidentified civilians and two unidentified Croatian Army soldiers

VERDICT (SUMMARY)

According to the Osijek District Court's verdict no. K-129/92-36 of 15 March 1993, defendant Jovo Savić was found guilty that

in Vukovar at the area of "Sajmište" in November 1991 (exact date not established),in capacity as non-commissioned officer of the so-called JNA, after special operation unit members under the defendant's command Slobodan Tošić, Milan Lapčević and Vladimir Đekić had found in the basement of one family house eight citizens and two Croatian Army soldiers, not identified precisely, who put down their weapons and surrendered,

having entered the house yard carrying automatic rifle and grenades, he shot dead by automatic rifle one of the citizens and forced other citizens and two soldiers to enter the basement, handed hand grenades with safety caps pulled out to detained soldiers and, after those grenades exploded, entered the basement and shot dead by rifle fire persons who survived from the explosion.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for war crime against civilians and to 15 years for war crime against prisoners of war and, thus, he received an aggregated sentence in the duration of 20 years of imprisonment.

The Osijek District Court's verdict no. K-129/92-36 of 15 March 1993 is available in Croatian here.

On 2 June 1993, the Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia accepted the public prosecutor's appeal, modified the first-instance verdict in the section determining the sentence and thus sentenced defendant Savić for the commission of war crime against civilians to 20 years in prison and also pronounced the same prison sentence for the commission of war crime against prisoners of war and he received therefore an aggregated sentence in the duration of 20 years of imprisonment.

The VSRH's verdict no. I Kž 439/1993-3 of 2 June 1993 is available in Croatian here.