WREATHS LAID FOR SERBS KILLED ON THE PETROVAC ROAD

BOSANSKI PETROVAC, AUGUST 7 /SRNA/ - Wreaths were laid in the village of Janjila near Bosanski Petrovac for Serbs killed in a refugee convoy that was bombed by the Croatian army in 1995 during the Storm criminal operation, in which around 2,000 Serbs were killed, and more than 220,000 were expelled from their ancestral homes.

A wreath and flowers were laid by the families of the killed Serbs.

The wreath was laid by Minister of Labor, War Veterans' and Disabled Persons' Protection of Republika Srpska Radan Ostojić, Nemanja Davidović, as the envoy of the President of Republika Srpska, and Director of the Documentation and Information Centre Veritas Savo Štrbac.

Wreaths were also laid by Acting Director of the Republic Centre for Research of War, War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons Viktor Nuždić, representatives of organisations stemming from the Defensive-Patriotic War, representatives of the "Petrovačka cesta" Association, Mayor of Petrovac-Drinić Drago Kovačević, a representative of the Municipal Assembly of Bosanski Petrovac, representatives of Bosansko Grahovo and other local communities attending today's commemoration.

A memorial service was previously held for the Serbs killed in the refugee convoy during the Croatian criminal operation Storm.

In 1995, Croatian aircraft bombed refugee convoys from Knin Krajina in Janjila near Bosanski Petrovac and in Svodna near Novi Grad.

To this day, this crime has not received a judicial resolution.

According to data from the Documentation and Verification Centre Veritas, those killed on the Petrovac road and in Svodna near Novi Grad were Darinka Drča /68/, Mika Kovačević /83/, Krstan Vuković /45/, Branko Stijelja /72/, Mirko Stijelja /34/, pregnant woman Mirjana Dubajić /21/, Jovica Drča /6/, Darko Vuković /13/, Nevenka Rajić /12/, Žarko Rajić /10/, Marta Galogaža /60/, Rade Galogaža /40/ and Mile Malobabić /42/.

Those wounded were Josipa Drča, Dušan Drča, Duško Ivaneža, Milica Ivaneža, Jovica Piplica, Ante Vitas, Dušan Beslać, Mara Beslać, pregnant woman Vedrana Stijelja, Obrenko Vuković, Dušan Drakulić, Vida Galogaža, Zorka Galogaža, Soka Malobabić, Suzana Ljubišić, Smilja Lajšić, as well as children Željko Drča /13/, Duška Drča /9/, Zorica Beslać /8/, Rajko Galogaža /10/, Goran Galogaža /12/, Miloš Malobabić /14/ and Nikolina Krajčinović /11/.

The indictment charges Croatian pilots Željko Jelenić, Danijel Borović, Vladimir Mikac and Zdenko Radulj with ordering the shelling of a refugee convoy on the Petrovac road on August 7 and 8, 1995.

Their trial began in March last year before the Higher Court in Belgrade, based on Serbia's indictment for war crimes.

The criminal operation Storm began on August 4, 1995, with an offensive by the Croatian Army and police, as well as HVO units, in the areas of Banija, Lika, Kordun and northern Dalmatia. During the operation, more than 220,000 Krajina Serbs were expelled from their ancestral homes.

The updated records of Veritas contain the names of 1,904 Serbs killed or gone missing during and after the operation, including 1,250 civilians, around three-quarters of whom were over the age of 60.

Among the victims were ten children under the age of 14 and 566 women, around four-fifths of whom were over the age of 60, which Veritas says represents a particular "black record" of the 1990s civil war in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

In its February 2015 judgment, the International Court of Justice classified Storm as ethnic cleansing, but not as genocide, although international experts in the field have claimed that the operation had all the characteristics of genocide.