On 26 August 2009, the War Crimes Council of the Sisak County Court pronounced a verdict which found Ivica Mirić guilty that, in October 1991, as a member of the Sisak Police Administration Reserve Forces, he committed a war crime against civilians referred to in Article 120, paragraph 1 of the Basic Criminal Law of the RoC (hereinafter: the OKZ RH). He was sentenced to nine years in prison. 
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia quashed the 26 August 2009 Verdict of the Sisak County Court and reversed the case to the first instance court for a retrial. The public session of the Supreme Court was held on 13 April 2010. 
The session of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia was held on 07 December 2010. The VSRH upheld the first instance verdict.

INDICTMENT (SUMMARY)

The defendant is charged that on 9 October 1991, as a member of the Sisak Police Administration Reserve Forces, having learned that Miloš Ćalić, a person of Serb ethnicity whom he had known from before because they used to live in the same street, was undergoing medical treatment in Zagreb, together with two unidentified members of the Reserve Police Forces, Ilija Čakarić and an unidentified female person, went to the "Rebro" Clinical Hospital in a red van, waited for Miloš Ćalić and told him to come with them; then he drove the victim to the Brezovica Forest where, together with two unidentified members of the Reserve Police Forces, dragged him out of the vehicle and killed him with bullets fired from an automatic rifle, simply because Miloš Ćalić was a person of Serb ethnicity.

You can see the indictment issued by the Sisak County State's Attorney's Office, No. K-DO-4/09, dated 1 April 2009 here (PDF, 3,13 MB). (in Croatian)

The modified indictment prepared by the Sisak County State Attorney's Office, dated on 07 June 2010, can be viewed here.

GENERAL DATA

Sisak County Court

War Crime Council: Judge Snježana Mrkoci, Council President; Judge Željko Mlinarić, Council member, Judge Višnja Vukić, Council member

War Crime Council in the repeated trial : Judge Melita Avedić, Council President, Judge Predrag Jovanić, Council member, Judge Alenka Lešić, Council member 

Case number: K-14/09; K-10/10 

Indictment No:K-DO-4/09 issued by the Sisak County State Attorney's Office on 01 April 2009, was modified on 07 June 2010.

Criminal act: war crime against civilians referred to in Article 120, paragraph 1 of the OKZ RH

Prosecuting attorney: Marijan Zgurić, Sisak County Deputy State's Attorney

The defendant: Ivica Mirić, in detention since 5 March 2009

Defence counsel: Domagoj Rupčić, a lawyer practising in Sisak

Victims (killed): Miloš Ćalić

VERDICT

On 26 August, the defendant was found guilty and sentenced to 9 (nine) years in prison.

You can see the written verdict here. (in Croatian)

OPINION OF THE MONITORING TEAM FOLLOWING THE CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST-INSTANCE TRIAL

On 26 August 2009, the War Crimes Council of the Sisak County Court pronounced a first-instance verdict No. K-14/09 wherein the defendant Ivica Mirić was found guilty of committing a war crime against civilians under Article 120, paragraph 1 of the OKZRH and sentenced to 9 (nine) years in prison. ¹

The time the defendant Mirić spent in detention from 2 March 2009 onwards was included in the sentence reached against him. With the pronunciation of the verdict, detention against the defendant was extended.

Trial against the defendant Ivica Mirić is the first war crime procedure conducted before the Sisak County Court which involves a defendant who is a member of Croatian units. With this regard, and taking into account our previous experiences in monitoring war crimes trials at the County Courts in the Republic of Croatia, we are not surprised with negative pressures/resistance expressed against conducting a trial against a member of Croatian units from the local environment (defenders and a part of local public).

During the main hearing, we noticed the following pressures and obstructions on the part of the audience:

- The exclusion of public from a part of the main hearing during the testimony provided by Predrag Pavlović who, while testifying, felt very uncomfortable and afraid for his security and the security of his family, while granting permission to monitor this part of the main hearing to the monitors of the Civic Committee for Human Rights, Documenta and the OSCE caused great disapproval among the audience. At the next court hearing, the Council President informed the audience that she had received a remark from high-positioned places because she had "emptied the courtroom" and then she clarified the role of monitors from Documenta, the Civic Committee for Human Rights and the OSCE. ²

- During the testimony provided by Ilija Čakarić, who charged the defendant with his testimony, comments were coming from the audience because of which the Council President had to request order in the courtroom;

- We learned from the injured person Čalić's sister that one of the persons from the audience who supported the defendant Mirić insulted her using harsh curses;

- After the completion of the main hearing, some persons from the audience lined up on both sides of the entrance to the courtroom and applauded at the moment when the defendant Mirić appeared;

- During the presentation of the defendant's defence, the Council President had to react on several occasions against the comments coming from the defendant Ćalić's niece who was sitting in the audience;

- During the pronounciation of the verdict, one person from the audience, dissatisfied with the verdict, loudly protested by saying: "Well, my Croats, we learned nothing from history", after which the Council President removed him from the courtroom, after which another person also protested and then walked out of the courtroom by himself.

 Without interferring with the free judges' opinion and the court's conclusion on the (non)existence of facts which are relevant for passing a decision on the merits, we noticed that the court did not use the possibility of confronting witnesses whose testimonies differed with regard to some facts. ³

Although the defendant mentioned in his defence the names/nicknames of two unknown persons ("Blaž" and "Štef") who came on the incriminating day to the hospital to pick the injured person Čalić, and he even stated where their unit was located and who was their commander (Jadranko Garbin), as well as stating that he had information that "Blaž" and Jadranko Garbin died later on, neither the State Attorney's Office nor the court attempted to establish their identity at the trial, despite the fact that it was not possible to conclude from the course of the main hearing that the identity of these persons was known.

^{1. The defendant was found guilty that, on 9 October 1991, in the capacity of a Sisak Police Administration reserve unit member, having learnt that Miloš Čalić, a person of Serb ethnicity whom he had known from before because they used to live in the same street, was in Zagreb in the "Rebro" Hospital, he went together with two unidentified police reserve unit members, a reserve policeman Ilija Čakarić and an unidentified female person, in a van to the "Rebro" Hospital and waited for Miloš Čalić. There, he told him to come with them. Then they took Miloš Čalić to the Brezovica woods near Sisak. There, together with two unidentified police reserve unit members, he pulled Miloš Čalić out of the vehicle and forced him to walk toward the little bridge over the "Dužec" channel, some 50 meters distance from the vehicle. There, Miloš Čalić was murdered by shots from the firearms just because he was of Serb ethnicity. ↩}

^{2. Article 294, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Procedure Act lays down that a panel may grant permission for certain officials, scholars or public figures to be present at a trial closed to the public. ↩}

^{3. These are witness testimonies of Predrag Pavlović and Damir Božičević, i.e. of Ivan Vojnić Hajduk and Damjan Ivaniš. ↩}

Zločin u šumi Brezovica - Izvještaji sa suđenja

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