President Zoran Milanovic condemned the indictments in a Croatian Army Day speech on May 28. Photo: Office of the President/Filip Glas
New war crimes indictments from Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning a group of Croatian officers drew an angry reaction from Croatian President Zoran Milanovic in a speech marking Croatian Army Day on May 28.
Milanovic complained that 30 years after the 1992-5 Bosnian war ended, indictments against Croatian wartime commanders are still being issued. “This must stop. It is purely a political game and an act of political abuse,” Milanovic said.
“Such actions must never happen again. I don’t understand what the goal is – what more can be done to compromise or restrain us, that we keep receiving these indictments,” he added, noting that all indictments from Bosnia for alleged war crimes originate from the Sarajevo prosecutor’s office.
“These are all indictments based on collective command responsibility, stemming from the verdict against six Croatian officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina. What role does the Croatian state have in this?” he asked.
“Perhaps it is time to say: Enough! Especially considering what is being done to Croatia, accusing the very army that helped liberate Bosnia and Herzegovina. Without the Croatian Army, there would be no Dayton; it wouldn’t even exist in theory,” Milanovic continued, referencing the 1995 deal ending the Bosnian war.
Minister of Defence Ivan Anusic, who also attended the ceremony, marking the 34th anniversary of the founding of the Croatian Army, echoed the concerns.
“I don’t know who exactly has been indicted but this is unacceptable,” Anusic said. “To issue indictments 30 years after the war, you have to stretch the truth significantly. I hope this gets resolved soon. I don’t see how we can now have trials for wars that are long behind us. The Croatian Army played a positive role in Bosnia and Herzegovina; they helped liberate it. Anyone who doesn’t recognise that is rewriting history,” he added.
According to RTL, unofficial sources report that authorities in Bosnia’s Serb-led Republika Srpska entity have sought war crimes proceedings against five former commanders of the Croatian Army, HV, and the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, the Bosnian Croat armed formation.
Among them allegedly is retired Major General Damir Krsticevic, a former Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister from 2016 to 2020. Another is Lieutenant General Mate Lausic – who died on May 12 – a former Chief of Military Police in the Croatian Army.
The list also reportedly includes HVO General Mijo Jelic, who led the defence of Mostar in Bosnia aged just 22, and General Stanko Sopta, wartime commander of the HVO’s 2nd Guards Brigade.
Retired General Ljubo Cesic Rojs, who also attended the Croatian Army Day celebration, disclosed further details.
“Four indictments arrived on May 2. They concern events in Bosanska Posavina,” Cesic told reporters, specifying that they relate to the fall of Bosanski Brod and Derventa to Bosnian Serb forces in northern Bosnia on October 6, 1992.
Sources also suggest that the late Mate Lausic and ten other Croatian military police members are accused of failing to prosecute war crimes committed at a military prison in Split, Croatia, where crimes against prisoners were known to have been committed.