KARLOVAC, July 1 (Hina) - The Karlovac county court on Tuesday sentenced Miljan Strunjas to 12 years in jail pending appeal on charges of war crimes against civilians.
KARLOVAC, July 1 (Hina) - The Karlovac county court on Tuesday
sentenced Miljan Strunjas to 12 years in jail pending appeal on
charges of war crimes against civilians. #L#
Strunjas was a commandant of the Veljun Territorial Defence
Regional Headquarters in the Croatian Serb rebels' self-styled
Krajina during the 1990s war.
Strunjas has been in custody since 2 October 2000. He had been
sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in February that year but the
trial was repeated at the order of the Supreme Court.
The panel of judges concluded that enough material evidence had
been submitted and enough witness testimonies heard to prove that
Strunjas had ordered his units and demanded in writing from the
former Yugoslav People's Army's Tactical Group Two in the area
under his jurisdiction to operate in Croatian villages in view of
intimidating and expelling the Croatian population, and that he
later seized the Slunj area and separated it from Croatia.
According to the judgement, Strunjas was found guilty of ordering
the Krajina troops to shoot at houses before entering Croatian
villages even though no troops were in the villages and the
villagers put up no resistance, thus forcing the population to
flee.
Five persons were killed in these operations over October and
November 1991, one was gravely wounded, 152 houses were set on fire
and demolished, as were churches in Hrvatski Blagaj, Pavlovac, and
Niksic.
In his judgement summary, the president of the Karlovac county
court panel of judges, Mladen Kosijer, said all of the above had
been done contrary to Geneva conventions and international laws of
war.
The summary said it had been established beyond dispute which
orders Strunjas had issued, signed himself, and even worked on.
These orders do not mention killing, arson, plunder, and the
destruction of religious facilities, but units under Strunjas'
command carried them out, according to the summary.
"The accused Miljan Strunjas is responsible for such grave
consequences of destruction. Even though the accused denies his
responsibility, the Court has passed a punishment that corresponds
to the gravity of the acts, the degree of his criminal
responsibility, and the personality of the perpetrators," said
Kosijer.
(hina) ha sb