here - Humanitarian Law Center/Fond za humanitarno pravo

1.6. Ovčara V
During 2012, proceedings against Petar Ćirić were initiated before the Higher Court in Belgrade
for a war crime against prisoners of war 76 and two trial days were held.
Course of proceedings
On 18 June 2012, the TRZ 77 filed an indictment against Petar Ćirić for a war crime against
prisoners of war. Ćirić is alleged to have, on 21 November 1991, as a member of the TO in
Vukovar, which operated as a part of the JNA, killed and ill-treated prisoners of war from the
Vukovar Hospital – members of the Croatian armed forces as well as persons accompanying
those forces although not formally a part of them. After they surrendered to the JNA, the
prisoners of war were handed over to the Vukovar TO and transported to a storage building at the
Ovčara farm near Vukovar (Republic of Croatia). The prisoners were forced to run a gauntlet to
enter the building, during which Ćirić punched and kicked them in different parts of the body.
After the prisoners of war were logged and transported, in groups, on tractors to Grabovo, about
one kilometre from Ovčara, the accused, together with other members of Vukovar TO, shot them
dead. After returning from Grabovo, the accused participated in the execution of the last
remaining group of prisoners of war taken to the building at the Ovčara farm, in which at least
193 of them their lost lives.
Following a preliminary hearing held on 1 October 2012 before the Higher Court in Belgrade, 78
the main hearing was held on 15 November 2012, during which defendant Petar Ćirić took the
stand in his own defense.
The accused said that he had arrived in the Vukovar war zone from Novi Sad. He responded to
the JNA call-up papers addressed to his twin brother. In Vukovar he was quartered in the suburb
of Petrova Gora. He came to Vukovar as a member of the JNA and then joined the Vukovar TO.
He saw buses transporting people from Vukovar Hospital, but did not know who they were or
where they were taken. He denied having committed the offence with which he was charged. He
said he did not know where Ovčara was and claimed to have learned of the crime committed
there a couple of days after the fall of Vukovar. The accused stated that everyone was speaking
about some prisoners having been killed but he was not interested in the story.
The following trial day, 3 December 2012, was closed to the public, at the request of the TRZ and
prosecution witnesses in order to protect the privacy of the latter.
76 Article 144 of the CC of the FRY.
77 Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor, Dušan Knežević.
78 Members of the Chamber: judge Rastko Popović (presiding), judge Vinka Beraha Nikićević and judge Snežana
Nikolić Garotić.
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