Križančevo selo massacre
Part of the Croat–Bosniak War, the Bosnian War and the Yugoslav Wars
Monument in the tribute of victims in Križančevo Selo
LocationKrižančevo selo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Date22 December 1993
TargetCroats
Attack type
Mass murder
Deathsat least 14
PerpetratorsArmy of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH)

The Križančevo selo massacre occurred in Križančevo selo, a hamlet in the Lašva Valley in central Bosnia, where at least 14 Croat POWs and civilians were killed during an attack by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) on Croatian Defence Council (HVO) positions on 22 December 1993.[1]

Attack on Križančevo selo

Throughout 1993, the region of central Bosnia was embroiled in the Croat–Bosniak war. In December 1993, ahead of the Christmas—New Year truce between the HVO and the ARBiH, the ARBiH launched several coordinated attacks against the HVO in the Vitez area. On 22 December, the ARBiH 325th Mountain Brigade captured the HVO-held Križančevo selo, a village situated near the town of Vitez,[2][3] and the nearby hamlets of Šafradin and Dubravice. After the capture of the village, at least 12 HVO POWs and two captured Croat civilians were killed.[1] Other sources mention several dozen killed,[4] with some sources putting the number as high as a hundred.[2]

Aftermath and indictment

The attack was given official recognition from both relevant sides in the conflict in 2010, when the Croatian president Ivo Josipović, Bosnian Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop Vinko Puljić, and Bosniak imam Mustafa Cerić made a joint visit at the sites of the Ahmići massacre and the Križančevo selo massacre, and paid respect to the victims.[5]

On 15 February 2019, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina indicted the commanders of the 325th Mountain Brigade for a "pre-planned and prepared attack on the HVO soldiers and Croat civilians in the villages of Križančevo selo, Šafradin and Dubravice". According to the indictment, at least 12 HVO POWs and two Croat women that did not take part in combat were killed.[1] The trial in the case began in April 2019.[6] On 19 September 2023, one of the defendants, Almir Sarajlić, was found guilty of taking part in the massacre in a first-instance judgement and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. The remaining seven defendants were found not guilty on all counts. The verdicts can be appealed.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Indictment Confirmed in the Case of Ibrahim Purić et al". Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 27 February 2019. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  2. 1 2 Shrader, Charles R. (2003). The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1992–1994. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-58544-261-4.
  3. ↑ Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis (2002). Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict, 1990–1995, Volume 1. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.
  4. ↑ Aida Cerkez-Robinson (15 April 2010). "Croatian president honors war victims in Bosnia". Associated Press foreign report. The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  5. ↑ "Predsjednik RH u Ahmićima - Josipović s Puljićem i Cerićem odao počast žrtvama rata u BiH" (in Croatian). Novi list. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Pred Sudom BiH počelo suđenje za ratni zločin protiv Hrvata u Križančevu selu". N1. 19 April 2019. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  7. ↑ Tausan, Marija (20 September 2023). "Bosnian Army Ex-Soldier Convicted of Killing Croat Prisoners of War". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
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