HlcIndexOut: 029-014-2

Belgrade, March 20th 2005.

Human rights organizations on Hrastov trial

We consider it essential to create - after 14 years - conditions for the fair trial of Mihajlo Hrastov who is accused of the murder of 13 JNA prisoners of war and the wounding of another on 21 September 1991 on the bridge over the Korana River in Karlovac, Croatia.

On 9 March 2004, the Croatian Supreme Court for the second time quashed the Karlovac County Court's decision of 18 September 2002 to acquit Hrastov, and ordered a retrial. The new trial, before a different panel of judges presided by Marijan Janjac, opened at the Karlovac County Court on 20 September 2004. The panel is considering the case under strong pressure by a part of the public and the local media who acclaim the defendant, a member of the Croatian police force, as a war hero. The loud comments of the public in the courtroom and the attitude of the guards, who make no effort to conceal their sympathy for Hrastov, could create a feeling of insecurity among all those in court, from the families of the victims who should have access, over the independent observers and witnesses, to the officers of the court itself.

The attitude of the CountyProsecutor's Office also gives rise to concern. The prosecutor, whose task is to establish the facts of the case and the truth, failed to object to the admission into evidence of the findings of a ballistics expert, which she could have done under Article 250 (1,2) of the Croatian Criminal Procedure Code. Namely, like the defendant, this expert witness is in the employ of the Croatian Interior Ministry, which is not in accordance with the standards of a fair trial.

In addition, the public learned belatedly that the case was to have been prosecuted by Deputy County Prosecutor Davorka Nyers Katušić who, just before the opening of the trial, asked to be recused. According to the press, she said she could not prosecute "a case that is already lost." In her view, the CountyProsecutor's Office made it impossible for her to conduct the prosecution in accordance with professional standards and her own conscience by proposing further ballistic tests to uncover new evidence and to seek the recusal of the panel.

We consider it essential that the Karlovac County Court be recused from considering this case, which should be taken over without delay by one of the four war crimes investigative divisions. These divisions were set up in Osijek, Zagreb, Rijeka, and Split pursuant to the Law on the Application of the Statute of the International Criminal Court and Prosecution of Offenses Against International Humanitarian Law and the Laws and Customs of War. The purpose is to enable the Croatian judicial authorities to respond to the requirements for unbiased, professional and fair trials for the most serious criminal offenses. We therefore expect the competent division to examine whether or not there are grounds to amend the indictment brought against Hrastov.

For the sake of the victims, injured parties, defendants and the public in general, we also urge the Croatian judicial authorities to put an end to the practice of prolonging proceedings. A fair trial based on the established facts is of essential importance for the process of facing the past, both with regard to individuals and society as a whole, and for normalization and integration into Europe.

Committee on Human Rights, Karlovac

Center for Peace, Non-violence and Human Rights, Osijek

HumanitarianLawCenter, Belgrade

Center for Peace Studies, Zagreb

Civil Committee on Human Rights, Zagreb

Croatian Helsinki Committee, Zagreb