| Press Release |
CHAMBERS
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| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
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The Hague, 31 January 2005
CT/P.I.S./932e
Judgement in the Case the Prosecutor v. Pavle Strugar:
Pavle Strugar sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment
Please find below the summary of the Judgement delivered by Trial Chamber II, composed of Judge Parker (presiding), Judge Thelin, and Judge Van Den Wyngaert, as read out by the Presiding Judge.
SUMMARY
The Chamber is sitting today to deliver the Judgement in the trial of Pavle Strugar.
For the purposes of this hearing, the Chamber will summarise briefly its findings, emphasising that this is a summary only, and that the only authoritative account of the Trial Chamber’s findings, and of its reasons for those findings, is to be found in the written Judgement, copies of which will be made available to the parties and to the public at the conclusion of this hearing.
Before turning to the merits, the Chamber wishes to thank the translators and interpreters, the Court Management Section and the Victim and Witnesses Section, as well as Counsel and the Chamber’s legal support team for having facilitated the conduct of this trial.
The Accused, Pavle Strugar, a retired Lieutenant-General of the then Yugoslav Peoples’ Army (JNA), is charged in the Indictment with crimes allegedly committed on 6 December 1991, in the course of a military campaign of the JNA in the area of Dubrovnik in Croatia in October, November and December of 1991. It is alleged that in the course of unlawful artillery shelling by the JNA on the historic Old Town of Dubrovnik on 6 December 1991, two people were killed, two were seriously wounded and many buildings of historic and cultural significance in the Old Town were damaged. These allegations support the six charges in the Indictment of violations of the laws or customs of war under Article 3 of the Statute of the Tribunal, namely murder, cruel treatment, attacks on civilians, devastation not justified by military necessity, attacks on civilian objects, and destruction of institutions dedicated to, inter alia, religion, and the arts and sciences.
It is alleged that the Accused is guilty of each of these six counts on two distinct bases. First, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute, that he personally ordered the shelling of the Old Town, and also that he personally aided and abetted the shelling. Secondly, as a superior responsible for the criminal conduct of the forces under his command pursuant to Article 7(3) of the Statute. The Accused’s liability is alleged to arise out of the position he then held as commander of the Second Operational Group (2 OG).
In September 1991, hostilities between the JNA and Croatian forces began in the south coastal area of Croatia. A blockade of Dubrovnik was established from 1 October 1991. It continued into 1992. The JNA forces under the Accused’s command launched combat operations to advance closer on the city of Dubrovnik in particular from 23 to 26 October 1991 and from 9 to 13 November 1991. Both times, the wider city of Dubrovnik in general, and its historic Old Town in particular, were shelled. By 13 November 1991, the JNA effectively held all the territory around the wider city of Dubrovnik, except for Mount Sr|, the dominant topographical feature of Dubrovnik immediately above the Old Town, where there is a fortress from Napoleonic times.
In early December 1991, negotiations were held in an attempt to resolve the problem of the blockade of Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik was but one of several issues, arising out of the conflict in the then SFRY, with which the highest Croatian and Serbian levels were occupied at the time. A Croatian ministerial delegation, led by Minister Rudolf, and the JNA, represented by Admiral Joki}, met in Cavtat on 5 December 1991. They were to continue on 6 December 1991.
The events directly relevant to 6 December 1991 are the subject of a great deal of evidence. Much of it is inconsistent or conflicting. It has been necessary for the Chamber to determine where the truth lies. Our reasons are set out in detail in the written Judgement. The summary of material events that follows reflects our findings as to what, in truth, did occur.
Well before sunrise, at around 0550 hours on the morning of 6 December 1991, residents of the Old Town of Dubrovnik awoke to the sound of explosions. An artillery attack had commenced. While initially, the firing was mainly concentrated on the area around Sr|, some shelling occurred on residential areas of Dubrovnik, including the Old Town and the port of the Old Town, virtually from the outset of the attack. However, the focus of the attack came to shift from Sr| to the wider city of Dubrovnik, including the Old Town. The most intense shelling occurred in the morning, between 0900-0930 hours and about 1100 hours. At about 1115 hours, a considerable drop in the frequency of the shelling occurred. This lull was not long-lived however, and shelling picked up again to continue though more sporadically. Shelling decreased noticeably a little after 1500 hours and had substantially ceased by a little after 1630 hours. The shelling of Dubrovnik, including the Old Town, had continued for over 10 and a half hours on 6 December 1991.
On 6 December 1991, the JNA attempted to capture Sr|. The attempt commenced between 0500 and 0600 hours on 6 December 1991, under cover of darkness. It was undertaken by two small infantry units of the 3/472 mtbr of the JNA. Each had close tank support. Less than 40 soldiers made the attack. Even so the defending Croatian forces on Sr| were outnumbered. The JNA infantry and artillery actions that day were overseen and coordinated by the commander of the 3/472 mtbr Captain Kova~evic, who was located at his observation post on @arkovica, a small plateau about two kilometres to the southeast of the Old Town, with clear views to the northwest of Dubrovnik, especially the Old Town, and Sr|.
A little before 0600 hours, more than half an hour before sunrise, JNA units commenced the mortar and other artillery barrage. At first, the principal target was Sr|. As the two...
