Krunoslav Fehir. Archive photo: Nenad Kokotovic.
Belgrade Higher Court on Monday sentenced Croatian citizen Krunoslav Fehir to six months in prison for being a member of a unit led by Branimir Glavas, de facto military chief in the eastern Croatian city of Osijek during the Croatian war in 1991.
Fehir was sentenced to the same time he has already spent in prison, so he was released.
Fehir’s lawyer, Bojan Stanojlovic, said after the trial that his client had received the lightest sentence, below the legal minimum.
“I expected, about 50 per cent, that it would be a compromise by the court. For now, it is important that Krunoslav goes home,” Stanojlovic said, Radio Free Europe reported.
According to the indictment, in June 1991, Fehir joined Branimir’s Osijek Battalion, BOB, led by Branimir Glavas.
On August 31, 1991, he participated in providing security for premises in Osijek that served as an improvised detention camp, while two Serb civilians were held inside, one of whom was forced to drink battery acid.
When the Serb broke down the garage door to escape, Fehir, who was outside, fired several shots at him. After the man died, Glavas allegedly ordered that the second prisoner be executed.
Fehir is a key witness in the war-crimes case in Croatia against the Glavas. He has been in custody since mid-June, when he was arrested attempting to cross the Croatian border to Serbia.
Croatian journalist Drago Held, who revealed the Osijek crime to the public, said the Serbian prosecution had “embarked on a story that had no basis whatsoever … They gave him [Fehir] a minimum sentence of six months, which he has practically already served, so that they would not have to pay him compensation,” Hedl told BIRN.
In August, Hedl testified before the Serbian Prosecutor’s Office in the Fehir case. “When I was giving my testimony to the prosecutor, I saw that she was unsure, and it was clear to her that she would not be able to prove the indictment,” Hedl said, adding that the prosecution had no evidence against Fehir.
“I was a witness who had no direct knowledge of the act itself. I testified based on the fact that Krunoslav Fehir was the first to tell me the story,” Hedl said, adding that the entire case was likely connected to the upcoming verdict expected in the case against Glavas.
“I think it was an attempt to somehow exonerate our main character, who is now awaiting his verdict,” Hedl claimed, adding that he is also suspicious of the way Fehir was arrested on arrival in Serbia, given that he had travelled to Serbia several times before without incident.
Glavas’s first trial started in 2007. He has since been found guilty, had his verdict quashed, been retried, had a second verdict quashed, and been retried again.
In October 2023 in the marathon legal proceedings against the wartime general, Glavas was again convicted of ordering executions and arrests of Serb civilians in 1991 and sentenced to seven years in prison. He then announced that he had left Croatia for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
