Six years in prison for former Serb paramilitary member for war crime in Baranja in 1992.

(Patria) - For war crimes against the civilian population in Baranja in 1992, the Osijek County Court today, in a non-final verdict, sentenced former Serb paramilitary member, 62-year-old Milorad Trivunović, to six years in prison.

The convict was arrested in February 2022 while attempting to enter Croatia from Serbia, and has been in custody since then. He is accused of committing the war crime in March 1992, at the Territorial Defense headquarters in Vardarac, as a member of the so-called Secretariat for Internal Affairs of Baranja.

Trivunović was charged that, along with two other members of the so-called Secretariat, Goran Bjelovuk and Zoran Majstorović, he came to the headquarters and, upon seeing that 47-year-old civilian Boris Dudaš was there, physically attacked him because of his Croatian nationality.

The prosecution stated that they physically assaulted the civilian, hitting him with their hands to the head and chest, threatening to kill and butcher him. During this, the now deceased Goran Bjelovuk stabbed him multiple times in the neck and upper chest with a knife, inflicting multiple stab wounds and life-threatening injuries, from which civilian Dudaš soon died.

The court panel concluded that the evidentiary proceedings and witness testimonies unequivocally confirmed that Milorad Trivunović committed war crimes against the civilian population in the then-occupied Baranja, in the manner described in the indictment, and sentenced him to a six-year prison term, which it considers appropriate for his role in this crime.

Given that the non-final prison sentence imposed is longer than five years, the convict's pre-trial detention has been extended, which can last until the verdict becomes final, and the time elapsed since his arrest on February 5, 2022, will be included in the sentence.