Media war in Croatia over BiH: Nacional writes about charges against Krstičević for crimes in Jajce

Weekly Nacional published details of alleged charges against Deputy Prime Minister and Croatian Minister of Defence Damir Krstičević, for alleged war crimes committed against Serb civilians during Operation Maestral on September 13, 1995, in the village of Bravnice near Jajce.

The weekly writes that, 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 from their attack towards Jajce and Banja Luka. The column moving from Vakuf towards Jajce was attacked by the Croatian Army near the village of Bravnice, about three kilometers before Jajce. Members of the Croatian Army ambushed them and began to kill them mercilessly. These were allegedly unarmed and completely surprised civilians in a refugee column who offered no resistance.

During this attack, Nacional further writes, some were killed immediately, and some were wounded. According to witness testimonies, in just one bus, amidst the fire opened by members of the Croatian Army, more than half of the passengers were killed or wounded, and then this same bus with victims was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade and set on fire with the remaining wounded and dead.

The Croatian Ministry of Defence (MORH) reacted to the article by the weekly Nacional, which states that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Damir Krstičević has been charged with war crimes against Serb civilians in BiH during Operation Maestral. MORH states that this is a series of lies, slander, and untruths.

Minister Krstičević also denied these allegations. He said that on September 13, 1995, when the alleged crime in the village of Bravnice near Jajce occurred according to Nacional's claims, the 4th Guards Brigade was not in BiH at all, but at its headquarters in Split. This brigade was withdrawn from the battlefield in BiH to Croatia three days before September 13. Until then, it had been fighting in the area between the towns of Glamoč and Šipovo.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Croatian Minister of Veterans Tomo Medved also firmly stood by Damir Krstičević, a war general.