Marino Selo is located in western Slavonia, in Požega-Slavonia County, within the jurisdiction of the town of Lipik. It is important to emphasise that the victims most commonly associated with the crime referred to as the Marino Selo crime were actually civilians from the neighbouring villages of Klisa and Kip.

Period: From November 1991 to February 1992

Description of crimes: In November 1991, members of the military police unit of the 76th Independent Battalion of the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) searched the homes of Serbs in the villages of Kip and Klisa, looking for hidden weapons. Some civilians were arrested and taken to an improvised prison located in a room of a fisherman’s house near Marino Selo (Ribnjak). In the premises of the fisherman’s house, members of the Croatian National Guard physically and psychologically abused the detained Serb civilians. Between November 1991 and February 1992, at least 24 civilians passed through this prison, and 17 of them died as a result of the abuse.

Victims — abused, tortured, and killed:

Kip

  1. Bunčić, Branko (Stevo), born 1 January 1954
  2. Danojević, Mijo/Dimitrije (Ilija), born 22 August 1937
  3. Gojković, Filip (Petar), born 11 June 1933
  4. Gojković, Gojko (Gojko), born 1 January 1937
  5. Gojković, Mijo (Nikola), born 10 August 1928
  6. Gojković, Nikola (Dimitrije), born 12 December 1927
  7. Gojković, Zorka, born 7 October 1940
  8. Krajnović, Nikola (Teodor), born 22 December 1927
  9. Novković, Petar (Stevan), born 26 May 1940
  10. Popović, Jovo (Simeon), born 4 May 1922
  11. Popović, Milan (Petar), born 5 July 1929
  12. Popović, Petar (Nikola), born 2 February 1944

Klisa

  1. Cicvara, Josip (Jovo), born 20 July 1914
  2. Gojković, Rade (Gojko), born 13 December 1943
  3. Kukić, Slobodan (Vićan), born 29 April 1949
  4. Maksimović, Savo (Cvijo), born 14 February 1947
  5. Žestić, Jovo (Pavle), born 12 July 1933

Judicial consequences: On 13 March 2009, the County Court in Požega announced a verdict finding the defendants Damir Kufner, Davor Šimić, Pavao Vancaš, Tomica Poletto, Željko Tutić, and Antun Ivezić guilty of the criminal offence of war crimes against the civilian population. On 23 March 2010, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia annulled the verdict of the War Crimes Council of the County Court in Požega due to procedural errors and delegated the case to the County Court in Osijek. On 13 June 2011, by the verdict of the County Court in Osijek, Tomica Poletto was sentenced to 15 years and Željko Tutić to 12 years of imprisonment for war crimes against the civilian population. Damir Kufner, Pavao Vancaš, and Antun Ivezić were acquitted, while the charges against Davor Šimić were dropped. The appeal hearing at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia was held on 22 November 2011, where the first-instance verdict was fully upheld.