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Zagreb county court. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Suradnik13.

Zagreb county court on Monday sentenced Dusan Zarkovic and Bogdan Jednak, two former paramilitaries from the 1990s Croatian Serb unrecognised statelet, the Republic of Serbian Krajina, to 15 years in prison each.

The two men, who were tried in their absence as they are no longer in Croatia, were found guilty of participating in the murder of 21 Croat villagers in Josevica in December 1991.

The accused, along with other unknown perpetrators, went from house to house, killing people in their sleep using guns equipped with silencers.

Of the 21 people killed, one was a minor. A 70-year-old woman managed to survive despite being shot in the mouth, hand and shoulder.

Reading the verdict, presiding judge Tomislav Jurisa said that it was “one of the most gruesome crimes” committed during the war.

In his explanation of the verdict, Jurisa said that the crime was “carefully planned” by the Republic of Serbian Krajina’s military, political and intelligence structures and that the perpetrators were carefully chosen for the operation.

According to the court, the Republic of Serbian Krajina’s police tried to investigate the crime, but they were stopped by the rebel territory’s political and intelligence leadership.

The court established that the motive of the crime was to intimidate the remaining Croat community in the Banovina region in Krajina.

Three other unit members who were also tried in their absence alongside Zarkovic and Jednak – George Nashid Kamal, Miroslav Malobabic and Dejan Sladovic – were acquitted by the Zagreb court.

The court established that there was no substantial evidence that they took part in the crime.

The convicted men have the right to appeal.