War crimes trial against Hrastov restarts

The long-running trial against Mihajlo Hrastov, former Croatian special forces policemen, restarted today at Croatia’s supreme court, more than 20 years after he was first charged with war crimes.

Hrastov was released from prison last year when the constitutional court dismissed his sentence of seven years imprisonment because it had not been formerly published.

Hrastov was charged with shooting and killing 13 captured JNA soldiers on September 21, 1991, at Koranski Most in Karlovac.

He was released for the first time in September 1992 by Karlovac county court. In March 2007, Karlovac court released him for the third time, after the supreme court struck out two earlier Hrastov’s acquittals at Karlovac court.

In May 2009, Hrastov was convicted to eight years in prison by the supreme court.

The appeal chamber reduced the sentence to seven years in January last year, and Hrastov started to serve the punishment.