A mass grave with at least ten bodies was found at the Petrovačka dola waste disposal site in Vukovar, where trial excavations in search of missing persons from the Homeland War have been ongoing since April 2022, confirmed the Vice President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and Minister of Croatian Veterans Tomo Medved.
“I would not get involved in calculating which victims we are dealing with. The fact is that according to the first preliminary examinations, we are dealing with victims from the Homeland War”, said Medved, saying that in addition to the victims, civilian clothing was also found, but that, as he said, “this must not mislead because it is known that many Croatian defenders were in civilian clothes after the collapse of the defense of Vukovar”.
He also said that an analysis of the land found that it was brought together with the remains, which indicates that it is a secondary grave, the possible existence of which was reported to the ministry at the end of 2021 by the security-intelligence agency.
“All this time in the past two years, representatives of the State Attorney’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been with us, and when we finish our part of the work, they will do the work of determining the perpetrators and responsibilities, as well as bringing charges,” said Medved.
According to him, according to preliminary research and findings, these are victims whose remains were moved from the primary location to Petrovačka dola in the first half of 1992.
He reminded that four mass graves were found in the wider area of Vukovar in the past eight years, which he claimed was the result of a systematic institutional approach.
State Attorney Ivan Turudić said that responsibility for the committed crimes rests with the perpetrators, as well as those who knew about them all these years, but remained silent and remain silent today.
According to the data of the Ministry of Croatian Veterans, 1,797 persons from the Homeland War are currently being sought in Croatia. In the last eight years, the remains of 170 were exhumed, and 263 people were identified, Hina writes.
