RADIČANIN AND OTHERS v. CROATIA
Inadmissible
Dmitry Dedov;Elisabeth Steiner;Erik Møse;Khanlar Hajiyev;Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska;Ksenija Turković
1. The first applicant, Mr Dragan Radičanin, was born in 1947 and lives in Karlovac. The second applicant, Ms Danica Beneta, was born in 1952 and lives in Zagreb. The third applicant, Ms Nedjeljka Čuturilo, was born in 1949 and lives in Karlovac. The fourth applicant, Dragica Martinović, was born in 1943 and lives in Karlovac. They are all Croatian nationals and were represented by Mr L. Šušak, a lawyer practicing in Zagreb. 2. The Croatian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms Š. Stažnik. 3. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 4. During 1991 and 1992 Serbian para-military forces gained control of about one third of the territory of Croatia and proclaimed the so-called “Serbian Autonomous region of Krajina” (Srpska autonomna oblast Krajina, hereinafter the “Krajina”). The applicants’ father, D.R., lived in Selakova Poljana, a village situated in the Krajina. At the beginning of August 1995 the Croatian authorities announced a campaign of military action with the aim of regaining control over the Krajina. The action was codenamed “Storm” and lasted from 4 to 7 August 1995. Before that action, the vast majority of the population of the Krajina had fled Croatia, initially for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but later many of them went to live in Serbia. Some returned to Croatia after the war. The number of people who fled is estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000. 5. On 7 November 2000 the second applicant informed the Vojinić Police about the disappearance of her father in 1995. She alleged that she and her sister, Nedjeljka Čuturilo, had learned that D.Sa., a neighbour of their late father, knew who had killed him. 6. On 29 June 2001 the police interviewed D.Sa., who said that the applicants’ father had been killed by a certain B.S. during the military action “Storm”. Later on B.S. had moved to Zagreb and had died there. 7. On 8 January 2002 the police interviewed M.P., who said that he had heard that the applicants’ father had been found in the courtyard of his house but nobody knew how or by whom he had been killed. 8. On 11 February and 27 March 2002 the police interviewed N.B. and P.G. N.B. had no knowledge about the killing of the applicants’ father. P.G. said that he had heard that the applicants’ father had been killed and buried in his courtyard and expressed the opinion that he had been killed by Serbian para-military forces because his family was rich. 9. On 29 March 2002 the police interviewed the second applicant, who said that a certain M.M. had been staying with her father in Selakova Poljana during the military action “Storm” and that M.M. had told her that on 15 August 1995 her father had gone to his neighbours’ estate to feed their pigs. M.M. had heard him yelling: “You thieves, why are you stealing?”, followed by three gunshots. M.M. had run away after that and had no knowledge what had happened to the applicants’ father. D.Se. had told the second applicant that the applicants’ father had been buried under a beech tree in his courtyard. Her father had had a valuable estate and kept 7,000 German marks in the house. The estate had been burned down after the military action “Storm”. 10. On 3 April 2002 the police interviewed D.Se., M.M. and the first applicant. D.Se. said that during the military action “Storm” she had not been in Selakova Poljana. When she had returned there together with a daughter of D.R. after the military action “Storm”, they had found that D.R.’s estate had been burned down. M.M. confirmed the facts given in the interview with the second applicant. The first applicant said that he had heard from his sister, the third applicant, that their father had been killed and buried under a beech tree in his courtyard. 11. On 17 March 2003 the ground under the beech tree in the courtyard of late D.R.’s house was excavated but no body was found. 12. On 31 July 2003 the police again interviewed D.Se., D.Sa. and M.M. They repeated their previous statements. 13. On 10 July 2006 the applicants lodged a criminal complaint with the State Attorney’s Office against unknown perpetrators for the criminal offence of a war crime against the civilian population in connection with the killing of their father D.R. However, since then no new information has been obtained.