The Office of the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor on May 30 requested launching an investigation against 12 persons suspected of committing war crimes in the eastern Croatian village of Lovas in October and November 1991. After they were interviewed by an investigating judge, the suspects were taken into custody.
The arrival of witnesses from Croatia was organised in cooperation with the Croatian Justice Ministry and Croatian and Serbian units for witness protection.
Four members of the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), four members of the civil and military authorities of Lovas, and four members of the military formation "Dusan Silni" are suspected of the torture, inhumane treatment and murder of 70 civilians from Lovas.
The Office of the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor in October 2005 launched proceedings to establish responsibility for the crime.
One of the arrested is the war time military commander of Lovas, Ljuban Devetak. He and 17 other people were indicted for genocide and crimes against civilians in Lovas and the Vukovar County Court has been conducting a trial against them.
Protected witness C-1204 stated in the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic at the Hague war crimes tribunal that members of the said units had forced some 50 captured residents of Lovas to walk through a clover field that was planted with mines.