The president of the Alliance of Serbs from the Region urged the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade to examine the claims of a former Croatian Army officer about the events of August 1995.
Miodrag Linta, president of the Alliance of Serbs from the Region, sent a request on Friday, August 7, 2026, to the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade to launch an investigation. The move follows allegations by Croatian Army officer Tihomir Mandarić about the mass killing of 500 Serb civilians in the Banija region during the military operation "Storm."
In a statement, Linta reminded that Mandarić publicly claimed that members of the 2nd Brigade "Thunders" committed a crime on August 6, 1995, at the Janus Meadows site, near Donji Žirovac, right next to the Glina - Dvor road.
According to Mandarić's account, the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 2nd Brigade of the Croatian Army "Thunders" intercepted a large group of about 500 Serb civilians. The column was moving from the Janusi hamlet, across Janus Meadows, descending toward the main road that was supposed to lead to Bosnia.
Details about the act itself and the exact number of victims have not been officially confirmed, and Croatian institutions have not yet published the results of any investigation into these claims.
Linta also highlighted the efforts of the late Svetozar Livada, president of the Community of Serbs in Croatia, a university professor and scientist. Between 2001 and 2006, Livada repeatedly and unsuccessfully asked the Croatian state to launch an investigation into the liquidation of 500 Serbs during "Storm." He considered it the largest single-day crime committed during the civil war in Croatia.
As evidence, Livada cited a text published in 2001 in the Zagreb-based weekly "Identitet" of the Serbian Democratic Forum. In that article, journalists Boris Pavić and Ivan Klobučar argued the case for the crime, relying precisely on the testimony of Croatian Army officer Tihomir Mandarić.
The latest call for an investigation comes more than three decades after the event itself. There is currently no information on whether the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade will accept Linta's request and initiate formal proceedings.
