According to the 2011 census, Karlovac had a population of 55,705, of which 8% were Serbs. In the 1991 census, Karlovac had 81,319 inhabitants, 26.72% of whom were Serbs. Although Karlovac no longer encompasses the same area it did in 1991, making direct comparison and analysis of the data somewhat difficult, there is a clear and significant shift in the national composition of the population, marked by a steep decline in the proportion of Serbs in the area. The Korana Bridge is located very close to the centre of Karlovac and, in a way, represents the southern entrance to the city. During the wartime conflict, it held an important strategic role in the defence of Karlovac.

Date: 21 September 1991

Description of the crime: On 21 September 1991, members of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) stopped two military trucks just in front of the bridge over the Korana River in Karlovac. On board were members of both the regular and reserve units of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA). The trucks were transporting soldiers from the Mekušje barracks to the Logorište barracks, which is located in Karlovac. After negotiations with Croatian forces and a promise that no harm would come to them, the JNA soldiers surrendered and laid down their weapons. Immediately after the surrender, one group of prisoners, mostly active-duty JNA personnel, was taken to the police station in Karlovac, while another group of 17 soldiers, mostly reservists from the village of Krnjak, was led on foot across the Korana Bridge. When they reached the bridge, three individuals wearing uniforms and balaclavas executed 13 of them with automatic weapons. Of the four survivors, three escaped by jumping into the Korana River.

Victims (by place of residence):

Čatrnja

  1. Popović, Nebojša (Mihajlo), born 26 July 1967

Donji Budački

  1. Gojković, Svetozar (Gligorije), born 8 January 1959
  2. Komadina, Zoran (Boško), born 17 May 1964

Grabovac Krnjački

  1. Savić, Milić (Dušan), born 5 September 1955
  2. Srdić, Miloš (Simo), born 10 May 1948

Karlovac

  1. Babić, Mile (Mihajlo), born 15 June 1949

Krnjak

  1. Babić, Nikola (Pajo/Dušan), born 2 April 1948
  2. Bižić, Vaso (Milan), born 1 July 1955
  3. Kozlina, Božo (Božo/Boško), born 26 March 1954
  4. Lukač, Miljenko/Milenko (Miloš), born 13 January 1959
  5. Milovanović, Slobodan (Svetozar), born 5 November 1966
  6. Peurača, Mile (Vladimir), born 14 January 1964

Partizansko Žarište

  1. Sipić, Jovan (Đorđe), born 26 March 1966

Judicial consequences: For the crime committed against prisoners of war on the Korana Bridge, an indictment was filed against Mihajlo Hrastov, a former member of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, under case number KT-48/91 by the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlovac on 25 May 1992, for unlawful killing and wounding. The proceedings against Hrastov became one of the longest in the history of the Croatian judiciary. The County Court in Karlovac acquitted him three times, claiming that the shooting had been preceded by an attack by disarmed enemy soldiers on Hrastov’s fellow officers, thereby losing their prisoner-of-war status. The Supreme Court overturned all three acquittals. After the third acquittal was annulled, the Court did not return the case to the same court for a retrial but instead conducted the appellate and third-instance proceedings itself, found Hrastov guilty, and sentenced him to seven years in prison. However, since the Supreme Court did not publish the conviction, the Constitutional Court overturned the ruling, and Hrastov was released at the end of 2010. Although the three surviving witnesses stated that three individuals opened fire on them, not just Hrastov, the State Attorney’s Office (DORH) has shown no interest in expanding the indictment, nor has it attempted to identify those who ordered the crime. The Supreme Court eventually confirmed the second-instance verdict by which Hrastov was sentenced to four years in prison, with credit given for time served in custody and during the sentence, from 6 March 1992 to 4 September 1992, and from 5 May 2009 to 22 December 2010. The trial of Mihajlo Hrastov lasted a total of 23 years.