ZAGREB, Aug 12 (Hina) - The president of the Serb People's Council (SNV) on Thursday told reporters in Zagreb the recent murder of a Serb resident of an eastern Croatian village contributed to destabilisation in eastern Croatia and of
Croatia's juridical system, thus providing room for further crimes against innocents. Djuro Mutic, a 39-year-old resident of Berak, died on the way to a hospital in Vukovar on Monday evening, as a result of injuries suffered in a fight with a Croat resident of the village. According to SNV president Milorad Pupovac, the Berak case was the cruel murder of a person in no way responsible for the suffering of Croats in the recent war. "His murder is directed to revenge against innocent persons." Pupovac said there were indications that "Mutic was killed by more than one person," which, he added, "assumes the character of lynching and must be cause for
ZAGREB, Aug 12 (Hina) - The president of the Serb People's Council
(SNV) on Thursday told reporters in Zagreb the recent murder of a
Serb resident of an eastern Croatian village contributed to
destabilisation in eastern Croatia and of Croatia's juridical
system, thus providing room for further crimes against innocents.
Djuro Mutic, a 39-year-old resident of Berak, died on the way to a
hospital in Vukovar on Monday evening, as a result of injuries
suffered in a fight with a Croat resident of the village.
According to SNV president Milorad Pupovac, the Berak case was the
cruel murder of a person in no way responsible for the suffering of
Croats in the recent war. "His murder is directed to revenge against
innocent persons."
Pupovac said there were indications that "Mutic was killed by more
than one person," which, he added, "assumes the character of
lynching and must be cause for concern for all Croatian citizens, in
particular those who turned a deaf ear to SNV's warnings about the
situation in Berak and Tompojevci in the last months."
Croatian authorities "must take things into their hands and not let
people seek justice in important matters of national interest,"
Pupovac asserted.
Speaking about the murder of a Serb in the village of Marinci
several months ago, Pupovac said unofficial sources indicated the
suspect had been released by a Supreme Court ruling.
"All this is cause for concern and indicates that the Croatian
judiciary has double standards for Serb and Croat citizens, and
that the judiciary is not in the function of preventing unpleasant
occurrences," Pupovac told the press.
He announced he would point representatives of Croatian
authorities and international organisation to the fact that
responsibility for the situation in eastern Croatia lies with those
responsible for the political climate in the area, "(a climate)
which gave people free hand to, in seeking justice, commit crimes
themselves."
Pupovac singled out the head of the Tompojevci municipality as the
most responsible for the deteriorating situation on account of
statements which resulted in tension and violence against local
Serbs.
Conflicts between Croat returnees to Berak and Serbs who had stayed
in the village during the war earlier this decade broke out three
months ago, when victims of the Serb aggression were exhumed near
the village. Croats protested for two months, demanding that local
Serbs point to mass graves of killed Croats in and around the
village. The conflicts ended after exhumations were carried out on
several locations and 16 victims were buried on July 10.
(hina) ha