Pros. v. Damir Sireta (Ovčara) fr

Country of proceedings: Serbia
Context of crimes: former Yugoslavia (Vukovar)
Date: 2006 - 2009
Keywords: War crimes (murder)

Case No.: KTRZ.4/03

Court documents
17-10-2008 - Indictment (in Serbian / in English)

Presentation of the case
After a three month siege, the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) took control of the city of Vukovar, in Eastern Croatia, on 19 November 1991. Several hundred people took refuge in the hospital of Vukovar, from where they were transferred, including wounded patients, soldiers, hospital staff and simple civilians, to a pig farm in Ovčara, outside Vukovar, where they were tortured and subsequently executed by Serb paramilitary forces.

According to the indictment of 17 October 2008, Damir Sireta was a member of the Vukovar Territorial Defense (TO), in a shooting platoon which carried out the execution of prisoners of war at Ovčara. On 22 June 2009, Damir Sireta was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by the District Court of Belgrade.

Following his arrest in Norway in December 2006, Damir Sireta was transferred to Serbia in May 2008. In March 2009, the District Court of Belgrade sentenced 13 Serbian soldiers to jail terms ranging from five to 20 years for the Ovčara farm war crimes. Damir Sireta was also part of this case but was tried separately due to his pending deportation from Norway. In a case previously conducted against him in Croatia, Damir Sireta had been sentenced in absentia to 12 years, for a murder committed in Vukovar in 1991.