TOMORROW MARKS THE 32ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNPUNISHED CRIME AGAINST SERBS IN MIRLOVIĆ POLJE

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 5 /SRNA/ - Tomorrow will mark the 32nd anniversary of the unpunished crime against Serb civilians in Mirlović Polje near Drniš, carried out by members of the Croatian Army under the command of Marko Skejo, who is known for marching with Ustaše insignia during state celebrations of Operation Storm in Knin.

Although the crime against Serb civilians took place in full view of numerous UNPROFOR personnel, no one has been prosecuted, either by international or domestic courts, the Documentation and Information Center Veritas said. On September 6, 1993, at around 6:30 a.m., a sabotage-terrorist group from the 114th Brigade of the Croatian Army raided the village of Mirlović Polje near Drniš, which was at the time under the control of the authorities of the Republic of Serbian Krajina /RSK/, and massacred five women and two men. The village had a mixed Croatian and Serb population, but due to its proximity to the front line, most of the residents had left earlier. At that time, some Serb civilians remained in the village, encouraged by the presence of UNPROFOR, to protect their homes and livestock. That morning, Marija Trzin /1928/ and her neighbor Ljubica Trzin /1938/ had taken their sheep to the meadow, and when shells began falling on the village, they took shelter in the basement of a house. When they heard knocking at the basement door, they went to see who it was. As soon as the door opened, a Croatian soldier threw a bomb inside, killing Ljubica instantly and severely wounding Marija. Only in the evening was Marija rescued by a group of Serb soldiers, who took her to the hospital in Knin and thus saved her life. The next morning, the Civil Protection of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, accompanied by the UN Civil Police, discovered Ljubica’s body along with the bodies of six other civilians. At the burned-out remains of their homes, they found the charred bodies of Milan Bibić /1926/ and his wife Vasilija /1926), as well as another Ljubica Trzin /1937/, whose body was still smoldering. The bodies of Božo Bibić /1907/, his wife Božica /1912/, and Marta Šarac /1907/ were found near the village pond. The bodies were buried in the local cemetery without an autopsy. About ten days later, by order of the investigating judge of the District Court in Knin, an exhumation was carried out in the presence of UN military observers and a military doctor from the British battalion, followed by a forensic examination of the bodies. Forensic expert Željko Karan from Banja Luka, who examined the bodies, prepared a forensic report, which was also reviewed by UNPROFOR representatives. According to information obtained by Veritas, the attack on Mirlović Polje was carried out by the Ninth Battalion “Rafael Vitez Boban,” a unit of the Croatian Defense Forces /HOS/ named after a Ustaše colonel and general from the Second World War. The unit was part of the 114th Brigade of the Croatian Army, commanded by Marko Skejo from the village of Ružić near Drniš. “That is the same individual who, for years, has marched at the state celebration of Operation Storm in Knin with his Blackshirt followers, wearing Ustaše insignia on their uniforms and shouting the Ustaše salute ‘For the homeland ready,’ all without any consequences,” Veritas emphasizes. In November 2011, Veritas submitted all available documentation regarding this crime to the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of Serbia, at their request. The case was subsequently transferred to the Croatian Prosecutor’s Office, where the investigation is still ongoing against unknown individuals. In 1991, 188 Serbs lived in Mirlović Polje; today, none remain.