ZAGREB, Aug 23, 2020 – The Osijek branch of the Croatian Association of Returnees (ZPH) on Sunday commemorated August 23, the day of the Great Serbian aggression, occupation of the Baranja region and the expulsion of the non-Serb population.
Branko Pek, president of the ZPH Osijek branch, said that after the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) Novi Sad Corps on 3 July 1991 crossed into Baranja over the bridge at Batina, local extremists started intimidating local residents, which culminated on August 22-23, when local Serbs, with the help of the JNA, expelled all non-Serb residents towards Osijek and Hungary.
“Those who would not leave, mostly the elderly, paid for it dearly. The occupying forces used them as slaves for the most difficult kinds of work, and more than 200 people were killed during the occupation from 1991 to 1998, when the peaceful reintegration of the Danube region was completed,” Pek said.
He said that Baranja had been under the protection of UN peace keeping forces since 1992 and that they, too, were resposible to some extent for the crimes committed against civilians as they did not do anyhting to prevent them.
“Those who ordered and committed crimes against innocent civilians are well-known to the authorities, some continue to move freely in the area, and nobody has been called to account for the crimes committed. We expect a just punishment for them,” said Pek.
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