Verdict in Ilija Pavic Retrial Scheduled for November 26

On February 10, 2015, the cantonal court of Livno found Pavic, a former member of the military police of the Croatian Defense Council, guilty of killing Serb civilian Milorad Crncevic during a raid on the night of August 8 or 9, 1992. A retrial was ordered.

The first instance court had determined that Pavic and two other deceased police officers entered the home of a civilian named Draginja Rosic. When Milorad Crncevic left the house, Pavic ordered him to stop and shot him in the groin. Crncevic died shortly afterwards. The cantonal court of Livno found Pavic guilty of Crncevic’s murder in December 2013, but the Supreme Court repealed the verdict a year later.

Presenting his closing statement, state prosecutor Munib Halilovic said Ilija Pavic’s guilt had been fully proven.

“Not even the defense denies that Pavic is guilty of killing Milorad Crncevic. What it denies are the circumstances under which it happened. However, the facts and evidence presented at the trial imply that the murder is closely associated with a war crime, because the defendant was aware of his actions, meaning he knew his actions were targeted against a civilian belonging to a different ethnic group,” Halilovic said.

He said Pavic’s admission of guilt was important and an irrefutable mitigating circumstance.

“However, all the mitigating circumstances can’t be considered more important than the fact that a civilian’s life was taken away,” Halilovic said.

Josip Muselimovic, Pavic’s defense attorney, said it wasn’t disputable that his client had killed a man. However, he said his client was a police officer who hadn’t intended to commit murder.

“The defendant didn’t know who was standing in front of him. He didn’t know he was a Serb. He performed a regular check as a military policeman. He didn’t have an intention to kill. The fact that he fired a bullet in the air and then in the lower part of the person’s leg confirms that,” Muselimovic said.

Addressing the trial chamber, Pavic said statements given by certain witnesses weren’t true. He said he was simply a police officer patrolling the town.

“I feel bad for standing trial for a war crime. That’s not what happened. I didn’t know those people. I didn’t know the man was a Serb. However, I admitted to this murder for the sake of morality and humanity,” Pavic said.

During the retrial, both the prosecution and defense said they didn’t have any new evidence to propose and agreed to take on the evidence presented at the first instance trial.