The widow and children of Milan Novakovic (Serbian civilian who was kidnapped and killed by the West supported separatist Croatian army in 1991) who had been permanently expelled (ethnically cleansed) from Croatia in 1992, have just received, from the Croatian’ local municipality in Podravska Slatina, the request to cover the cost of removing the rubble of their (stolen and blown up to pieces) home, in the amount of 2,500 Euros. Their house was looted, mined and then blown up to pieces by the Croatian army in 1992. Their only guilt- They were Serbs! 

The place where in 1991,in Croatian city of Podravska Slatina, once stood the house of Serbian family Novakovic. Their husband and father was savagely murdered, the house looted and blown to pieces, and they have been permanently expelled from their home city, and Croatian state- Yet EU member Croatia, instead of reimbursing them for the very own war crimes, request these victims of this horrible ordeal to pay back `their executors`…

To make this story more absurd, the Croatian municipality have hired the private lawyer and local construction (cleaning) company, to remove the rubble from the site of destroyed house.

This lawyer was able to locate the Novakovic family in Serbia and served them with the Croatian court order, requesting from them that within 30 days remove the rubble and clean the bush from the site, where once stood their family home- which is now `legally stolen` from them by the Croatian government and “given” to the local municipality. With this court order they were served as well with the estimated cost (the invoice)- the construction company will charge the municipality, in amount of 16,750 Croatian “kunas” (including 25% in taxes)– which corresponds to 2,500 Euros

The Novakovic’s were offered “a third solution”: That Croatian municipality would cover all the cost for “cleaning” the site, with the one (practically) blackmailing condition- in the case that family wouldn’t be able “to pay back” the city,  the local government will then “legally” (under the special Croatian “law designed for Serbs”) become the owner of their land (the site where once proudly stood their family home).

The Serbian media agency “Vesti” have examined the complete court documentation served to family Novakovic, by the Croatian lawyer Ivana Stojic from city of Mikleush- which includes “the fourth solution”:

“In the case you don’t agree with the peaceful resolution of this dispute, my client (the Croatian municipality) will be forced to file the legal complaint with the Construction and Agricultural Inspection, which will inflict on you additional cost (on the top of 2,500 Euros).”- states the last paragraph of this Croatian “court document”.

• During the last 7 years, “the policy” of the local Croatian municipalities is that surviving Serbian owners (most of them are today permanently ethnically cleansed and still refugees- 24 years since the war ended) must clear the sites of their destroyed homes (by the Croatian armed forces), otherwise their property will be permanently  “seized” by the government.  The Croatian government made an effort that this (defacto state sponsored theft) gets incorporated in their existing laws thus providing some appearance of legality- but from the moral point of view, in the case of family Novakovic, it is obvious that the Croatian municipality is adding (by launching the lawsuit against the victims of their “own war crimes”) an insult and additional suffering to this family. It is horrific feeling for somebody, whose father and husband was first kidnapped (and murdered), then robbed them of their property, then looted and destroyed (mined) their home (and finally, expelled them from the country)– to be blackmailed in this manner to cover the cost of the war crimes and crimes against humanity, they suffered first hand. This is such mockery and humiliation that I lack words to describe it- says, visibly annoyed, Mr Savo Strbac- director of humanitarian organization “Veritas”.

The international Red Cross, under the file number #HRZ-030411-01, has listed Milan Novakovic as “a missing person”- His disappearance was reported to Red Cross by his uncle, who lived at that time in Germany.

Milan disappeared without trace

 On September 6th 1991, Milan Novakovic was stopped at Croatian army check point in Mileus village, by the local gas station, while driving his vehicle Fiat 750, with plates NA-195-53. He was grabbed from his vehicle and forced into a van with the plates from city of Bjelovar, and taken in the direction of city of Slatina. On armed Croatain soldier was seen following the van in another vehicle. The Red Cross has information that Milan’ body was allegedly buried by the road between Slatina and Lukovac.

The next year, in January 1992, during the Serbian religious holiday St Jovan, the members of Croatian army, belonging the “Zenga” unit, had entered the Novakovic’ home, looted it, then mined and blown the house to pieces. The surviving members of Novakovic’ family were forced to flee to Serbia (to avoid a terrible fate of their father and husband Milan). 

Milan’ mother Drena, while she was still alive, was performing the frantic search for her missing son, visiting numerous government and non-government organizations, in order to find out what happened to her son, but meanwhile she died from the broken heart without getting any answers. Her son is still officially listed as missing, but the Croatian state prosecutor- which has power to investigate, uncover the truth, and identify the Croatian war criminals behind this crime- have made no such effort…

The source: https://facebookreporter.org/2019/04/17/hrvatska-minirali-im-kucu-pa-jos-i-da-plate/

& (the original source) https://vesti-online.com/Vesti/Ex-YU/733522/Minirali-im-kucu-pa-jos-i-da-plate

The translation, the picture’ comment and the comments in the brackets, by PIN Editor