Perisic, 67, who was tried at the Zadar Court in his absence, was given 20 years for war crimes against civilians which the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) forces committed during the shelling of Zadar in September and October 1991. In that trial the court sentenced another 18 JNA officers for those war crimes and handed down prison sentences ranging between 10 and 20 years.
Delivering the judgement, Zadar County Court judge Dubravko Krpina said that Perisic's responsibility was established beyond any doubt by, among other evidence, relying on testimonies of two former JNA members who testified about Perisic's orders to shell civilian targets in Zadar.
More than 30 residents were killed and churches, flats, houses and other property were either damaged or destroyed in the JNA artillery attacks on Zadar in September and October 1991.