Croatian Minister of Defence: Krstičević Accused of Massacre of 32 Refugees, Women and Children

Croatian Minister of Defence Damir Krstičević is accused by the RS Centre for Research of War, War Crimes and Search for Missing Persons of the massacre of Serb civilians in Bravnice near Jajce, Patria reports.

As reported by the Croatian newspaper "Nacional", Croatian soldiers riddled a bus full of civilians with bullets, then hit it with a rocket-propelled grenade and set it on fire. The location and time of the event are stated as Bravnice near Jajce, September 13, 1995, as part of Operation Maestral.

"After members of the Croatian Army attacked Donji Vakuf on September 13, 1995, the Serb population from that area, including mostly women, children, and the elderly, fled their homes and headed towards Jajce and Banja Luka," writes Nacional in an article titled "Krstičević Accused of Massacre of 32 Refugees, Women and Children".

According to the newspaper, the column moving from Srbobran towards Jajce was attacked on the mentioned date, near the village of Bravnice, about three kilometers before Jajce, by members of the Croatian Army who ambushed them and began to kill them mercilessly. Nacional states that these were unarmed and completely surprised civilians in a refugee column who offered no resistance. During this attack, some were killed immediately, while others were wounded.

According to witness testimonies, in just one bus, amidst the gunfire opened by members of the Croatian Army, more than half of the passengers were killed or wounded, after which the same bus with the victims was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade and set on fire with the remaining wounded and dead. Nacional reports that 32 refugees were killed at that time, including women and children.

Nacional states that this is precisely the content of the case file in the Prosecutor's Office of BiH under number KT-RZ-192/05, in which Tihomir Blaškić, Stanko Sopta, Damir Krstičević, Mario Petrović, and other unknown soldiers are suspected. The content of the file was revealed to Nacional by the Republički centar za istraživanje rata, ratnih zločina i traženje nestalih lica RS (RS Centre for Research of War, War Crimes and Search for Missing Persons).

"According to the information available to the Centre, Krstičević is suspected as the commander of the 4th Guards Brigade of the Croatian Army from Split, which was combat-engaged in the area of Jajce municipality at the time of the commission of the war crime," the Centre stated.

"I have nothing to do with it, my unit was not there," Krstičević responded.