ZAGREB, May 2, 2018 – Wreath-laying ceremonies were held in the capital city of Zagreb on Wednesday in memory of civilians killed in the shelling of Zagreb on May 2-3, 1995 when Serb paramilitaries shelled Zagreb’s centre with cluster bombs in retaliation for the defeat suffered in Operation Flash in western Slavonia the day before.
The retaliation was publicly admitted to by the then leader of rebel ethnic Serbs Milan Martić. Seven people were killed, 39 seriously injured and another 136 sustained lesser injuries.
The first explosions were heard around 10.23 a.m. on 2 May when several shells were fired on downtown Zagreb. The shelling a day later was directed at a children’s hospital, a retirement home and the national theatre building.
The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague (ICTY) found Martić guilty of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war committed against Croats and other non-Serbs in Croatia in the early 1990s, sentencing him to 35 years in prison. It also found him guilty of ordering missile attacks on Zagreb in May 1995.
In October 2008, the ICTY Appeals Chamber confirmed the 35-year prison sentence for the former Croatian Serb political leader, for crimes committed against Croats and other non-Serbs in Croatia between 1991 and 1995.
The initial indictment against Martić was issued on 25 July 1995. After several years on the run, he surrendered to the Tribunal on 15 May 2002. The trial started on 13 December 2005 and concluded on 12 January 2007.
