KARLOVAC COURT SENTENCES STRUNJAS TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON

KARLOVAC, Feb 26 (Hina) - The Karlovac County Court of first instance on Tuesday sentenced Miljan Strunjas, 67, to 12 years in prison for war crimes against civilians. Strunjas was charged with being responsible for war crimes as former commander of the "Reon Headquarters TO Veljun", and found guilty for the persecution of Croats from the so-called Serb Autonomous Region of Krajina in 1991, violating the Geneva convention on the protection of civilians during war, and in opposition to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts of 1977. Judge Mladen Kosijer said "Milan Strunjas's objective and subjective responsibility for the crimes under command responsibility he was charged with was indisputably proven". Strunjas's attorney Dragan Milacic said he would appeal the sentence because "the sentence was such because of the county court's daily policy, and Strunjas was convicted with no evidence of the crimes which took place in that region over a period of several years". The verdict for war crimes could not be passed without having to prove when and whose troops destroyed Croatian villages and displaced the residents. Only in this way could the command and individual responsibility be established. Because of a lack of evidence by the County State Prosecution, the court could have only acquitted him, Milacic asserted. (hina) lml sb