Ribnjak - Marino Selo, Požega-Slavonia County, Croatia

Location: Požega-Slavonia County, Croatia

Importance of the locality:

: In November 1991, members of the Military Police unit of the 76th Independent Battalion of the Croatian National Guard searched Serb houses in the villages of Kip and Klisa, looking for hidden weapons. They arrested civilians and took them to an improvised detention facility at a fishing lodge near Marino Selo (Ribnjak). At the facility, members of ZNG subjected the Serb civilian prisoners to physical and mental abuse. In the period from November 1991 to February 1992, at least 24 civilians were held at the detention facility and 18 of them died as a result of abuse.

Entity: Republic of Croatia

Ethnic group: Serbs

Area that victims came from: Požega-Slavonia and Bjelovar-Bilogora County

Responsibility: MUP HR

Court trials:

The County Court in Požega delivered a verdict on 13 March 2009 finding the accused Damir Kufner, Davor Šimić, Pavao Vancaš, Tomica Poletto, Željko Tutić and Antun Ivezić guilty of war crimes against the civilian population. On 23 March 2010, the Supreme Court of Croatia set aside the judgement of the War Crimes Chamber at the Požega County Court due to procedural errors and referred the case to the Osijek County Court. On 13 June 2011, the Osijek County Court sentenced Tomica Poletto (44) to fifteen years in prison and Željko Tutić (44) to twelve years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population. Damir Kufner, Pavao Vancaš and Antun Ivezić were acquitted and the charges against Davor Šimić were rejected. The appeals session was held at the Supreme Court of Croatia on 22 November 2011 and upheld the first instance judgement in its entirety.

Commemorations: Since 2021, a delegation of the Serb National Council and representatives of the Požega-Slavonia County Independent Democratic Serb Party visit the camp in the autumn or winter to commemorate the plight of the Serb population and those killed in the camps in Marino Selo and Pakračka Poljana. The fishing lodge is currently under private ownership. The building has been left to deteriorate – it has not been renovated, it is not in use and it is gradually falling into disrepair.

Data source: Osijek County Court in Croatia

Marked and photographed: 19.11.2024

Map:

Updated: 17.12.2024