Retired Colonel Danijel Borovic, one of four Croatian Air Force officers accused of targeting refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, on Friday commented on a trial starting in Belgrade on the 26th by saying that "if a political trial is being planned," they will be declared war criminals.

The four officers will be tried in absentia. Speaking to the press in Varazdin, Borovic said that as far as he knew, “there is no concrete evidence, but the trial will probably be held anyway.”

“If the plan is to conduct a political trial, they will deliver a verdict, and we will be declared war criminals. That’s the problem,” he added.

Besides him, Serbian prosecutors have indicted Vladimir Mikac, Zdenko Radulj and Zeljko Jelenic.

Asked if he was communicating with his court-appointed attorney, Borovic said none of the four was communicating with attorneys.

“Because we don’t recognise the proceedings. Croatia doesn’t recognise them, how can we recognise them? We can’t communicate. They are trying to contact us through some journalists, or rather our people are, to try and obtain some information. They did all that was necessary. They appealed against certain proceedings, but the court dismissed that, so a preliminary hearing will be held on 26 December, and we are waiting to see the position of their judiciary,” Borovic said.

Asked if there was a possibility of finding out what happened that August in 1995, he said it was difficult to say after so many years and that he was accused of an event that occurred the day after the refugees in question were targeted.

“How will they prove it, will they have evidence, will they make up evidence? It’s difficult to say.”

Borovic said, “there are many events on which light has never been shed” and that this indictment was “a consequence” of “Croatia accusing them, and because the indictment for the attack on (Government House in Zagreb in 1995) has been upheld, so they intensified the collecting of evidence and prepared counter-proceedings to mitigate that a little.”