Marković and Novović talked to Croatians about "Lora"

Although the case of the Split "Lora" camp, in which 14 members of the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) from the so-called Nikšić-Šavnik group were killed, will not be included in a possible agreement between Montenegro and Croatia on resolving some of their mutual disputes, the torture center was discussed at a recent meeting of representatives of the prosecutors' offices of the two countries.

Special State Prosecutor Vukas Radonjic told "Vijesti" that one of the topics of a recent meeting of the Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković and the chief special prosecutor Vladimir Novović with the Chief State Prosecutor of the State Attorney's Office of the Republic of Croatia Ivan Turudić, there was also a procedure initiated regarding the activities in "Lora", but that no further information can be provided about the course of that conversation and the conclusions.

Marković and Novović participated in the Regional Prosecutors' Conference on Cooperation in Prosecution of War Crimes in Brioni, Croatia, in early September, which brought together prosecutors and representatives of judicial institutions from the neighborhood, as well as international organizations, "with the aim of strengthening cooperation and more efficient prosecution of these cases."

The Croatian State Attorney's Office did not respond to questions from "Vijesti" yesterday about what conclusions were reached and what was agreed regarding "Lora", as well as when the proceedings regarding the events in that camp were initiated.

"Certainly, according to the rules on the validity of the criminal legislation of Montenegro, the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) is not competent to initiate and conduct proceedings due to actions taken at the Military Investigation Center 'Lora'," Radonjić told the newspaper.

He recalled that the SDT's jurisdiction over criminal offenses committed abroad exists only if the perpetrators are Montenegrin citizens, and thus, he states, that institution exclusively acts upon letters of request from the Croatian State Attorney's Office, and in the procedure of international legal assistance in criminal matters, it delivers the collected evidence, information and data requested from the SDT in the letters of request.

The monstrosity in "Lora" did not survive the 14 Montenegrin reservists, who were captured on the Herzegovina battlefield in the spring of 1992 during the months-long JNA aggression on Dubrovnik.

It is believed that reservists were killed in "Lora" - Dusan Barovic, Port of Gazivoda, Borivoje Zirojevic, Ranko Vujović, Dragoman Doknic, Dragan Jakovljevic, Pavle Popović, Milos Perunovic, Ratko Simovic, Neđeljko Jankovic, Miljan Susic, Radivoje Petkovic i Radomir VulićThe International Red Cross has registered only Luka Adzic, who was exchanged in August 1992 in a very difficult psychological and physical condition. A year later, Adžić died in Nikšić as a result of severe abuse.

The remains of 12 members of the group, as "Vijesti" wrote, were discovered years later in various locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, near Duvno, Mostar and Trebinje, and the body of Miloš Perunović has not yet been found.

The Croatian Prosecutor's Office has been investigating the case of the deaths of Montenegrin reservists since 2007, but even after 18 years, almost nothing is known about the extent of the investigation by the County State Attorney's Office in Split.

Former JNA soldier Veselin Bojovic He was heard in February at the SDT through international legal assistance, after the Montenegrin Human Rights Action (HRA) and the Croatian Documenta submitted to the County Attorney's Office the documentary film by TV Nikšić "Evil Spring '92", in which Bojović's statement was also published.

In 1992, Bojović, then a 19-year-old JNA soldier originally from Žabljak, was captured in “Lora” and severely abused there. He witnessed the torture of other prisoners. He was first questioned 12 years ago.

"It's terrible and terrifying, anyone who hasn't experienced 'Lora' cannot know what was happening there. Chaos. The struggle for life. Death. In those moments, death was better. There was nothing for a person to do, just to end the suffering. People begged to be killed, to end their suffering. The ones who were coming back from the battlefield were the ones who were the most brutal, their own people got drunk, came, brought them, they beat them all night, they beat them. Then the guards, this one Tomo Duic", he mistreated me the most, not because I'm Montenegrin, because he hated me, I don't know. I fainted, then I vomited. They bathed us with a fire hydrant, they took us out in a circle. They lined us up, turned us to the wall naked," Bojović said in the film, adding that he also went through electric torture.

HRA and Documenta announced in February that the request for Bojović's hearing represents the first step by the Croatian State Attorney's Office in investigating the abuse of prisoners in "Lora", which has been known to the public for the past 12 years.

"The investigation was opened in 2007, but to this day it is not known for certain what was done. Despite the extensive evidence of unknown content, which the Montenegrin State Prosecutor's Office delivered to Croatia in 2012, there has been no investigation opened, nor has anyone been charged with torture, which was testified to by several people. The turning point in the investigation was a documentary film by TV Nikšić...", the two NGOs wrote in a statement.

The monstrosity in "Lora" did not survive the 14 Montenegrin reservists, who were captured on the Herzegovina battlefield in the spring of 1992 during the months-long JNA aggression on Dubrovnik.

Commander of “Lora” Duić and prison guard Emilijo Bungur They were sentenced to ten and eight years in prison by final verdicts for the suffering and torture of prisoners of Serbian nationality.

Special State Prosecutor Tanja Čolan Deretic In February 2023, at a session of the Parliamentary Committee on Justice, she announced that the case regarding "Lora 3" was formed in 2009. At that time, she said that 11 people were questioned in the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office department and that the statements were forwarded to the Split County Attorney's Office in 2012.

The then Minister of Justice Marko Kovač He stated at the Committee meeting that the agreement between the state prosecutors' offices of Montenegro and Croatia from 2006 contains "an obvious asymmetry in rights and obligations", adding that he would propose revising that document.