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CONTACT: JONATHAN CLARKE
(202) 785-8430
June 11, 1998

SERBIAN UNITY CONGRESS SEEKS GUARANTEES ON VIGOROUS PROSECUTION FOR DINKO SAKIC

On June 2, 1998 a Serbian Unity Congress delegation consisting of Katalina Petrov Platzer, Chairman, Jasenovac Project, and Nikola Kostich, Esq., Legal Adviser, joined by Professor Barry Lituchy, Kingsborough College, visited Washington D.C. for meetings with the State Department about the Dinko Sakic case. Sakic was the former commander of the Jasenovac death camp which was operated in Croatia by Croatian Ustachi (Nazis) from August 1941-April 1945 and where hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, and Romas met their death.

The delegation met with Mr. Thomas R. Warrick from the Office of War Crimes, Ms. Lisa Tepper, Croatia desk officer, and Ms. Susan Siegel, Office of Special Investigations, Department of Justice. Mr. Warrick provided a briefing on the latest developments in the case, including that it was now settled that Sakic would be extradited from Argentina to Croatia. The delegation also had meetings with the United States Institute of Peace, the Washington Post, and gave interviews to the Serbian service of the Voice of America.

At the State Department, the delegation underlined the serious concerns felt by all Serbs about the prospect that Sakic will be tried in Zagreb. The delegation forcefully restated the reservations set out in its May 1 letter to Ambassador David Scheffer, Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues, specifically that survivors would feel unsafe about testifying in Zagreb, that the Croatian state has never recognized the crime of genocide, and that, as demonstrated by its actions in Slavonia, the Croatian government could not be trusted to honor its undertakings.

The State Department shared these concerns. Mr. Warrick stated that the United States regarded the Sakic trial as a "landmark" case which would demonstrate whether or not Croatia is willing to terms with its World War II crimes of genocide against Serbs, Jews, and Romas and other war crimes. Mr. Warrick stated that the Sakic case was being monitored at the "highest level." Mr. Warrick said that the State Department would remain actively in touch with the Croatian authorities to express the United States interest in seeing a "vigorous prosecution." He encouraged the SUC and all Serbs to do the same.

The SUC delegation agreed that it would undertake good faith efforts to encourage its associates in possession of relevant evidence to prvide this to the appropriate authorities. Action by the SUC was not, however, a substitute for action by the U.S. government and the State Department in particular. In the face of alarming indications from Croatia that they would turn both the preliminary investigation and the trial into a travesty, the full weight of the American government needed to be brought to bear. In the absence of American pressure, Sakic would literally get away with murder and justice would be denied.

Further information may be obtained from Katalina Petrov Platzer, Chairman, Jasenovac Project on (248) 656-3285, Nikola Kostich, Esq., Legal Adviser, Serbian Unity Congress on (414) 276-1233, or Professor Barry Lituchy on (718) 368-5417.