Croatia: Wartime official found guilty of war crimes

Croatia: Wartime official found guilty of war crimes

The District Court Judge Zdravko Majerovic read the verdict that stated Mercep was found guilty "for failing to prevent members of a reserve MUP (Interior Ministry) unit, whose de facto commander he was, from committing crimes, and instead giving them implicit approval, including during the time he was not present in the field."

The indictment charged that Mercep failed to prevent members of the unit in question, known as Mercepovci and based in Pakracka Poljana ("Pakrac Field") and the Zagreb Fair, from unlawfully arresting, torturing, abusing, and killing Serb civilians.

43 people were murdered in this way, among them three members of the Zec family, residents of Zagreb. Thee others are listed as missing, while six victims survived being tortured.