Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milosevic of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) said on Thursday that it was his and the government's position that war crimes perpetrators should answer for their actions regardless of their or victims' ethnic background.

“It is the government’s position and my position that anyone who has committed a war crime should answer for it, regardless of the ethnic background of either the perpetrator or the victim,” Milosevic said ahead of a government session.

He said that he did not have information on new circumstances that have resulted in the latest arrests.

Two men, arrested in the eastern village of Negoslavci on suspicion of involvement in war crimes, have been reported by police for taking part, as members of Serb paramilitary forces, in the torture of persons captured in Vukovar and taken to the Ovcara farm outside the city on 20 November 1991.

Milosevic underlined that he did not believe the arrests were a political move by the HDZ, which is no longer in power in Vukovar, aimed at winning back voter support.

“I expect the judiciary and police to investigate war crimes committed across the country, including eastern Slavonia, just as I expect the crime in Varivode, whose perpetrators have not been found, to be investigated and its perpetrators to be brought to justice,” Milosevic said.

He also said that he did not believe the latest arrests were connected with the coming Vukovar Remembrance Day.

“I expect the judiciary and police to work autonomously and investigate all war crimes and not look at the calendar,” he said.

He noted that the arrests would not bring into question the SDSS’s cooperation with the HDZ.

“As a coalition partner, we expect investigations into war crimes committed against Serbs, in Varivode and Grubori, as well as into war crimes committed in eastern Slavonia before the war started, (we want) investigations into how people went missing in Vukovar and who did it,” he said.

Medved: I expect judiciary to do its job

Deputy PM and War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved welcomed the efforts of a special task force of the Ministry of the Interior working on war crimes, adding that he expected after the latest arrests the judiciary to do its job and the perpetrators to answer for the crimes.

He noted that the arrests showed that the prosecution of war crimes was being approached seriously.

“This also shows how serious the state is in its relationship with the victims. Those who committed war crimes will not be able to sleep peacefully. We will not grow tired, we will continue with investigations and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Medved said.

Asked how this would reflect on relations between Croats and Serbs on the ground, Medved said that anyone normal would welcome such an approach.

The minister was also asked if the latest arrests were an answer to Vukovar mayor and former HDZ member Ivan Penava, who left the party over what he described as inaction in the prosecution of war crimes.

“This is a continued and serious process by a group of special investigators. Remember how a few years ago we said that serious work was underway on those cases, and these are not the first arrests… More than 50 people were arrested in the last three years and prosecuted for similar war crimes, and work on that will continue,” said Medved.