OSIJEK, Aug 28 (Hina) - A panel of judges at the Osijek County Court on Thursday found eight Croatian Serbs guilty of war crimes against civilians in the village of Luc in eastern Croatia during the 1990s war.
OSIJEK, Aug 28 (Hina) - A panel of judges at the Osijek County Court
on Thursday found eight Croatian Serbs guilty of war crimes against
civilians in the village of Luc in eastern Croatia during the 1990s
war. #L#
Savo Stojanovic was sentenced to eight years in prison, Branko
Petrovic to seven, Goran Bozic, Marko Canadic, Petar Petrovic and
Miroslav Lazarevic got a six-year prison term each and Cedomir
Kovacic and Milislav Stojanovic were both sentenced to five years
in prison.
The trial took place without the presence of the accused because
they fled Croatia during the 1998 peaceful reintegration of eastern
Slavonia into the Croatian legal order and the court could not
establish their whereabouts.
The eight men were found guilty of physical and psychological abuse
of the non-Serb population of Luc, restricting movement for Croats
and plundering their property, intimidating Croats by firing
weapons at their homes, and their illegal imprisonment.
The Serbs also recruited Croats in the so-called Serb Territorial
Defence, organised forceful labour, devastated the church in Luc,
made death threats and participated in the persecution of Croats
from Luc where Croats made up the majority of the village's
population.
(hina) lml