Investigation into the Murder of Eight Serbian Elderly in Uzdolje Was Slipshod
At the commemoration in Uzdolje, MP Anja Šimpraga sharply criticized the ineffective war crime investigation and called for justice for all victims.
At the commemoration in Uzdolje, MP Anja Šimpraga sharply criticized the ineffective war crime investigation and called for justice for all victims.
Organized by the Municipality of Biskupija and the Serb National Council (SNV), a commemoration was held in Uzdolje near Knin for eight Serbian civilians killed 31 years ago. In her speech, MP and SNV Vice President Anja Šimpraga emphasized that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia had also confirmed that the investigation into this war crime was "slipshod."
Šimpraga stressed that the goal of the commemoration was not to deepen divisions, but to highlight the importance of truth and justice. "Without truth and justice, there is no lasting trust among citizens, no full democracy, and no genuine reconciliation," she said. She added that she equally advocates for the investigation of every crime and the finding of all 1,727 missing persons of various nationalities, 40% of whom are of Serbian ethnicity.
Referring to the recent decision of the Constitutional Court, Šimpraga pointed to failures in the investigation. "And on what basis did the Constitutional Court conclude that in this war crime case, such a 'slipshod' investigation was conducted?" she asked. She detailed the chronology: the exhumation of 298 remains at the Knin cemetery in mid-2001, the filing of a case against an unknown perpetrator in 2004, and years of unsuccessful questioning of members of the 142nd and 6th Home Guard Regiments of the Croatian Army.
"In this problematic investigation, the same witnesses are repeatedly called to repeat their already given statements," Šimpraga stated, concluding that this "is not an investigation but the creation of the illusion of an investigation." She also cited the dissenting opinion of Constitutional Court Judge Lovorka Kušan, who stated that all evidence points to members of the Croatian Army as the direct perpetrators.
A key part of the speech was relaying the testimony of a witness, the sole survivor, named Bosiljka. She described the three perpetrators as young men aged 24 to 25, armed with automatic weapons and dressed in camouflage uniforms. "She was particularly afraid of one of them. He had long black hair, a black shirt with 'Za dom spremni' written on it, and a black scarf around his neck," Šimpraga recounted.
Šimpraga added that one of the perpetrators asked the witness if she had heard of a musician, and when she said she had not, he pointed to the soldier she feared most and told her it was his brother. Although the witness also mentioned a specific name of a potential perpetrator in her testimony, it was only in June 2022 that the Split County State Attorney's Office was informed of this. The crime occurred on August 6, 1995, in the morning hours in the hamlet of Šare. Three armed men harassed and then killed the elderly at a location 30 meters from the main Knin-Drniš road.
The victims were: Milica Šare (born 1922), Stevo Berić (1933), Janja Berić (1932), Đurđija Berić (1916), Krsto Šare (1931), Miloš Ćosić (1923), Jandrija Šare (1932), and Sava Šare (1915), who was killed on her doorstep. Bosiljka, wounded in the head and thigh, managed to escape and hide in the hills.
Šimpraga concluded her speech with the message that the demand for justice for Serbian victims does not diminish the suffering of Croatian victims. "On the contrary, consistent condemnation of all crimes and equal care for all victims is the only path toward a society based on universal values, not selective memory," she said.
At the commemoration, the mayor of Biskupija Municipality, Milan Đurđević, read this year's SNV Statement of Remembrance. The memorial to the murdered civilians in Uzdolje was unveiled in 2017 by the Council of the Serbian National Minority of Biskupija Municipality and the association of families "Against Forgetting," with field research conducted by Documenta Zagreb.
