Dates: 7 and 8 August 1995

Description of the crime: On Petrovačka Cesta, near the village of Klenovac (Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina), on 7 August 1995, during an airstrike on a refugee convoy from Croatia coming from the regions of southern Lika and northern Dalmatia, ten people were killed by rocket fire, including four children and a 20-year-old woman. The following day, two MiG-21 aircraft of the Croatian Air Force flew over another refugee convoy moving from the Kordun and Banija areas towards the Una River and crossing into Republika Srpska via the bridge between Dvor and Novi Grad. Near the village of Svodna, after having flown over the convoy, the aircraft returned and fired rockets at it. On that occasion, three people were killed. It is estimated that around 25 people were injured in both incidents. Due to the similarity and geographical proximity of these incidents, they are usually treated together and referred to as the Petrovačka Cesta crime.

The victims killed on Petrovačka Cesta had resided in the areas of Donji Lapac and Benkovac and surrounding villages (Brotnja, Begluci, Zagrad), while those killed in Svodna had lived in Slavsko Polje.

Victims — Petrovačka cesta:

  1. Drča, Darinka (Dane), born 7 November 1927
  2. Drča, Jovica (Dušan), born 21 December 1989
  3. Dubajić, Mirjana (Milan), born 14 November 1974
  4. Kovačević, Mika (Petar), born 1 January 1912
  5. Rajić, Nevenka (Spase), born 20 January 1984
  6. Rajić, Žarko (Spase), born 26 August 1986
  7. Stjelja, Branko (Stevan), born 17 November 1923
  8. Stjelja, Mirko (Branko), born 20 June 1961
  9. Vuković, Darko (Krstan), born 10 July 1982
  10. Vuković, Krstan (Obrad), born 26 September 1951

Victims — Svodna:

  1. Galogaža, Marta (Stanko), born 1 January 1935
  2. Galogaža, Rade (Mile), born 17 October 1955
  3. Malobabić, Mile (Miloš), born 10 November 1953

Judicial consequences: In August 2022, the indictment by the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Serbia against four retired senior officers of the Croatian Air Force became final. The individuals charged are General Zdenko Radulj, Brigadier Vladimir Mikac, Colonel Danijel Borović, and Colonel Željko Jelenić. The Belgrade Court of Appeal rejected the appeals lodged by court-appointed defence lawyers representing the accused. As the Government of the Republic of Croatia does not recognise the proceedings being conducted against them in Serbia, the summonses to trial have not been delivered to the accused, despite Serbia having sent a formal request to the Croatian Ministry of Justice at the end of September 2022 for the court summons to be served on the four pilots. The Croatian side defends its position in two ways: by claiming that soldiers and missile systems were present within the refugee convoy, and that there was no air force action taken against the convoy. The trial has not yet commenced.