Crime in Škabrnja (defendant Renato Petrov)

Trials in Croatia :: Verdict before appeal

Repeated trial against defendant Renato Petrov for a war crime against civilians under Article 120, paragraph 1 of the Basic Criminal Law Act of the Republic of Croatia (OKZRH).


INDICTMENT

The indictment issued on 22 August 1994 is in force against defendant Renato Petrov. He is charged that, together with several other persons, he committed a war crime against civilians referred to in Article 120, paragraph 1 of the OKZRH.

Since there is a separate trial in respect of Petrov, the Zadar ŽDO amended the indictment on 20 September 2011. It can be viewed (in Croatian) here.


THE CASE HISTORY

The Zadar County Court rendered the verdict No. K-25/94 of 11 November 1995 and sentenced Renato Petrov in his absence to 20 years in prison. The trial was also conducted against Goran Opačić and another 25 defendants, and Renato Petrov was the 14th defendant among them. The mentioned verdict can be viewed (in Croatian) here.


On the basis of the arrest warrant issued by Interpol, Petrov was arrested in Dusseldorf at the beginning of April 2011, and Germany extradited him to Croatia in July 2011.

The Zadar County court issued a decision on 22 July 2011 in which it permitted the reopening of criminal proceedings.


GENERAL INFORMATION

Zadar County Court

Case file number: K-40/11

War Crimes Council:

judge Boris Balić, President of the Council; judges Vladimir Mikolčević and Boris Radman, Council Members

Indictment: issued by the Zadar ŽDO, No. KT-41/92 of 22 August 1994; amended on 20 September 2011 after separation of proceedings

Prosecution: Sobodan Denona, Zadar County Deputy State Attorney

Criminal offence: war crime against civilians, Article 120, paragraph 1 of the OK ZRH

Defendant: Renato Petrov

Defence: Dragan Jovanić, a lawyer practising in Rijeka

Victims:
- 43 persons killed by firearms; one female person was ran over by a tank
- defendant Petrov is charged that he killed an elderly male person by firing one shot from a handgun

 
TRIAL MONITORING REPORTS

ŠKABRNJA izvještaji s rasprave (available in Croatian)

 
VERDICT

On 28 September 2012, the Zadar County Court's War Crimes Council pronounced a verdict according to which the defendant, because of the lack of evidence, is acquitted. The previous verdict on the basis of which he had been sentenced to 20 years in prison was abolished. Detention order against the defendant is vacated.




  • 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