ZORAN KORDA FROM ZEČEVO NEAR KISTANJE ARRESTED

BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 6 /SRNA/ – The person with dual citizenship of Croatia and Montenegro, recently arrested by the Croatian police for an alleged war crime without revealing his identity, is, according to information obtained by the Documentation and Information Center "Veritas", Zoran Korda, a Serb from the village of Zečevo in the municipality of Kistanje /formerly the municipality of Knin until 1995/.

"Veritas" stated that Korda fled the former Republika Srpska Krajina in August 1995 and settled with his family in Podgorica, Montenegro. Over the past 20 years, he regularly visited his birthplace and his parents, who had returned from exile and rebuilt their property.

"In the meantime, his parents passed away, but Zoran continued to visit his native village and maintain the property, which includes an olive grove with several hundred trees. This year, just a few days before his arrest, he came to the village with his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild to harvest olives", "Veritas" reported.

The statement notes that none of the few remaining residents of Zečevo saw Korda being arrested, and that they only learned about it from the media.

"News of Zoran’s arrest has alarmed Serbs in the Kistanje area and beyond, especially since none of them believe he committed the crimes he is accused of. They link his arrest to the recent surge of attacks on Serbs, such as the November 3 incident when masked black-shirted men violently disrupted the event ‘Days of Serbian Culture’ in Split", "Veritas" stated.

According to "Veritas", court documents show that the County State Attorney’s Office in Split, in indictments from 2015 and 2016, charged Nebojša Popović, Drinko Baljković, and Janko Popović with the same crime for which Korda is now accused, and that their trial is being conducted in absentia.

The proceedings against Nebojša Popović were later separated from the case against the other two defendants.

According to "Veritas" records, since the beginning of this year, six Serbs from Croatia and the former Republika Srpska Krajina have been arrested for alleged war crimes, three in Croatia and three abroad.

Based on international warrants issued by the Croatian judiciary, at least 202 Serbs have been arrested worldwide so far, 84 of whom have been extradited to Croatia.

Currently, 28 Serbs are held in Croatian prisons on war crime charges, 15 have been convicted, while the others are under investigation, indicted, or awaiting final judgments.

The Croatian police and prosecution announced yesterday on their official websites that a 61-year-old dual citizen of Croatia and Montenegro was arrested on suspicion that, as a member of a Serb paramilitary formation, he committed a war crime against prisoners of war in February 1993 near Vodice, close to Šibenik.