LINTA: WE MUST PERMANENTLY PRESERVE THE MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE MONSTROUS CROATIAN "LORA"

BELGRADE, AUGUST 19 /SRNA/ - The Croatian concentration camp "Lora" in Split, which was officially closed on this day 29 years ago, was one of the most notorious and monstrous prisons in the former Yugoslavia, stated the President of the Alliance of Serbs from the Region, Miodrag Linta.

Emphasizing that this notorious camp existed even two years after the end of the war, Linta noted that "Lora" was closed on August 19, 1997, under direct pressure from international organizations.

For the terrible crimes committed in this camp, Croatian courts have so far, in two cases, "Lora 1" and "Lora 2", sentenced a total of only eight members of the Croatian Army's military police to a combined 57 years in prison, he pointed out.

Linta reminded that the former commander of this camp, Tomislav Duić, "was legally sentenced to a miserable and insulting 10 years."

"This is a shameful verdict that deeply humiliates the victims of this monster and his subordinate sadists. It is a tragic fact that the victims and their families did not see true justice. It is our duty to permanently preserve the memory of every victim of this concentration camp," Linta said.

He recalled that after the withdrawal of the JNA /Yugoslav People's Army/ from Split in early 1992, the "Lora" naval port was taken over by the Croatian military police, which established a death camp on that site that existed for more than five years.

Linta stated that from March 1992 to August 1997, 1,005 officially registered prisoners passed through the "Lora" torture chamber, but the actual number of prisoners was significantly higher.

"These were Serbian civilians from present-day Croatia and BiH, captured JNA soldiers, as well as volunteers from Serbia and Montenegro. Many facts confirm that at least 70 people were killed in the most brutal ways," Linta pointed out.

He emphasized that out of 15 captured members of the Nikšić-Šavnik group, 13 were killed in "Lora".

The list includes Dušan Barović, Luka Gazivoda, Borivoje Zirojević, Ranko Vujović, Dragoman Doknić, Dragan Jakovljević, Pavle Popović, Miloš Perunović, Ratko Simović, Neđeljko Janković, Miljan Šušić, Radivoje Petković, and Radomir Vulić, while Luka Adžić, who was found alive by the International Red Cross, died only a few months later in Nikšić as a result of severe torture.

In different locations in BiH, near Tomislavgrad, Mostar, and Trebinje, their remains were found years later.

Linta recalled the Nikšić Television documentary film Zlo proljeće ’92 /Evil Spring '92/, which testifies to the inconceivable crimes committed in the "Lora" camp in Split against captured JNA members from Montenegro in 1992.

He pointed out that the testimony of Gavrilo Tripković, who was a detainee in "Lora," was included in the 1993 Amnesty International report. Tripković testified how the camp commander, Tomo Duić, brought him into one of the cells, and that what he found there was a sight that terrified even some of the criminals.

"There were five of them, in uniforms, leaning against the wall, lined up on the floor, some in a semi-reclining position. Mutilated, with broken arms and legs, bloody. Their ears had been cut off; only one of them had one ear left. Some of them had their eyes gouged out; others had their eyes gouged out in front of me. I remember how one of the torturers cut off the tongue of one of those men. They didn't gouge out the eyes of one so he could see what was being done to those people, and then they started slaughtering them one by one," is part of this horrifying and terrible testimony conveyed in the mentioned film, Linta stated.

He reminded that the Croatian director and producer Nenad Puhovski shot the documentary film Lora – svjedočanstva /Lora - Testimonies/ in 2004, in which 15 surviving prisoners testified about the atrocities, horrific psychophysical torture, and monstrous torments they were subjected to in this death camp, as well as the murders.

Linta stated that it is a harrowing story that a normal human mind cannot comprehend.

He added that in 2008, director Denis Cvitičanin made the feature-length documentary film Mučenici /Martyrs/, which talks about the suffering of Serbs in camps from 1991 to 1997.

The film consists of three parts in which surviving prisoners testify about terrible tortures and atrocities. The first part of the film is dedicated to the testimonies of Serbs from the "Lora" death camp in Split, the second part covers the "Dretelj" camp near Čapljina, and the third focuses on the "Čelebići" camp near Konjic.