TOMORROW MARKS 34 YEARS SINCE MONSTROUS MURDER OF SERBIAN RADOSAVLJEVIĆ FAMILY IN DARUVAR

BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 24 /SRNA/ - Tomorrow marks 34 years since the murder of the four-member Serbian Radosavljević family in Daruvar, who were killed by a Croatian military policeman solely because the two children and their parents were Serbs; their bodies were then destroyed with explosives.

The Information-Documentation Center Veritas reminded that on February 25, 1992, in Daruvar, a member of the Croatian Army, then 20-year-old Jožica Mudri, killed the Radosavljević family: Rade /36/, his wife Jovanka /32/, and their minor sons Dejan /14/ and Nenad /10/.

On that day, Jožica Mudri arrived at the Radosavljević family home at 19:15, wearing a military police uniform and, during a conversation with the homeowner that lasted several hours, motivated by the fact that they were of Serbian nationality, fired 11 shots at close range from a pistol, shooting them in the head.

After fourteen-year-old Dejan showed signs of life even after the shooting, Mudri stabbed him eight times in the chest and abdomen with a kitchen knife.

He then laid the bodies of the Radosavljević family side by side on the dining room floor and rigged them with plastic explosives, as a result of which they were dismembered, and the entire house was damaged.

After the monstrous act, the killer stole a video recorder and a remote control from the Radosavljević home and gave them as a gift to his girlfriend Tajana Biljan.

By a final verdict of the Supreme Court of Croatia, Jožica Mudri was sentenced to 15 years in prison for four counts of murder, one count of a serious offense against public safety, and theft, but not for a war crime, as the act was not legally classified as such.

During the criminal proceedings, Mudri claimed that he decided to carry out the killing after his commander Miroslav Guberović told him in a café, where Rade Radosavljević, whom the killer knew from working at the same company, was also present, that "he had to liquidate that scumbag tonight".

He said that for this purpose the commander also made a car available to him and assigned a member of their unit, Miroslav Moulis, to show him Rade's house.

Croatian courts rejected the claims filed by relatives of the murdered Radosavljević family seeking compensation from Croatia, explaining that the killer committed the act outside of working hours and with trophy weapons, and that "the harmful act is in no way connected to the performance of military service".

The killer was released from prison long ago and today lives in Daruvar as a respected resident and a "meritorious participant in the Homeland War", according to the Information-Documentation Center Veritas.