ŠTRBAC: IT IS IMPORTANT THAT TRUTH ABOUT CRIMES AGAINST SERBS IN OSIJEK HAS COME TO LIGHT

BELGRADE, JUNE 12 /SRNA/ - Commenting on the final verdict against Branimir Glavaš, President of the Veritas Documentation and Information Centre Savo Štrbac told SRNA that it is important that the truth about the monstrous crimes committed against Serb civilians in Osijek has come to light after 35 years.

Štrbac said that Serbs had long since stopped expecting justice from the Croatian judiciary, but that it is a major achievement that the case was brought before the court, given that everything had been shrouded in secrecy.

"It was known that people were killed and disappeared, but there were no responsible persons, and then a witness nobody expected appeared, Krunoslav Fehir. As a minor, his father brought him to Glavaš and said, `This boy will be a good Ustasha,` and then his conscience kicked in, and we had a trial," Štrbac said.

He said it was a major achievement that Croats themselves testified against Glavaš, who is considered a hero in Croatia, and that they revealed the scale of the crimes and what happened to Serbs in Osijek.

"It was shown that their heroes, gods, can also be held accountable. The punishment here was secondary; we did not expect more anyway. There are double standards when Serbs and Croats are tried, which cannot last forever; it will be corrected sooner or later," Štrbac said.

He stressed that the killings of Serbs in Osijek during the "Garage" and "Selotejp" operations were ritual in nature and that they were meant to send a message to Serbs about what would happen to them in Croatia.

"They were sent a message about what awaits them if they come into close contact with those carrying out these acts. People were forced to drink sulphuric acid from car batteries. If even a drop falls on skin or clothing, it burns everything; you can imagine what happens when acid is swallowed, it burns the internal organs," Štrbac said.

He stated that in the "Selotejp" case, the perpetrators first severely beat and tortured their victims, then taped their mouths and hands with adhesive tape, took them to the riverbank, and fired dozens of rounds at them before throwing them into the river, adding that the tape was meant to ensure that even if someone survived the bullets, they would not be able to swim out.

"However, one man miraculously survived and testified about everything against Glavaš," Štrbac said.

He reiterated that the trial of Glavaš is an achievement in itself, especially given that out of 4,000 prosecuted cases, only three percent involved members of the Croatian armed forces, with even fewer resulting in convictions.

"Even today, there is not a day when a Serb is not tried in Zagreb, while every month between 50 and 70 Serbs are brought before their courts," Štrbac said.

He pointed out that in 750 final verdicts issued by Croatian courts against Serbs, the average prison sentence was 12 years, while most received the maximum sentence of 20 years.

"When it comes to Croats, the sentences are either minimal, around five years, or even below the minimum, because they always found `special mitigating circumstances` for their own people, including the fact that someone participated in the war on the Croatian side," Štrbac said.

The High Criminal Court of Croatia has finally convicted wartime commander of Croatian forces in Osijek, Branimir Glavaš, also known as the "Slavonian Butcher," sentencing him to seven years in prison in the "Selotejp" case for war crimes committed against Serb civilians in 1991.

In addition to Glavaš, Gordana Getoš-Magdić was also finally sentenced to four years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population, while Dinko Kontić and Zdravko Dragić were sentenced to three years each.

The court thereby upheld the first-instance verdict of the Zagreb County Court from 2023.