August the 28th, 2026 – Ratko Mladic, the butcher of Bosnia and one of the worst monsters of the 20th century is finally dead, but before the infamous Srebrenica massacre, there was Croatia’s Škabrnja.
War criminal Ratko Mladić died yesterday without ever answering for the crimes committed in Škabrnja, even though documents and testimonies presented before the Hague Tribunal point to his role in the attack of the 18th of November, 1991. Index reports that Mladić will primarily be remembered as the commander of the Army of Republika Srpska who was finally sentenced to life imprisonment for the genocide in Srebrenica, the terrorising of the population of Sarajevo, persecution, thousands of murders and other repugnant crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He left a trail of blood wherever he went.
Despite it being the most infamous, his wartime path did not actually begin in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Before Sarajevo and Srebrenica he was one of the key commanders of the JNA in operations based in Croatia, especially in northern Dalmatia. His forces attacked Kijevo, the area of Šibenik, Zadar and Sinj, and he also played an important role in the attack on Škabrnja, after which one of the gravest crimes of the Homeland War was committed.
his role in the crimes against humanity committed in croatia
At the time of the attack, Ratko Mladić was not yet formally the commander of the 9th Corps of the JNA based in Knin, as is often stated. He was actually the chief of its staff and deputy commander, while the corps was commanded by General Vladimir Vuković. Mladić was officially appointed corps commander on the 30th December 1991. Nevertheless, already in November he was one of the most influential people in the chain of command and took part in the preparation of operations.
Škabrnja was located in the zone of responsibility of the 180th Motorised Brigade of the JNA from Benkovac, which was part of the 9th Corps. Alongside the JNA, units of the Territorial Defence and police of the so-called SAO Krajina, as well as volunteer and paramilitary groups from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, operated in the Zadar area. Documents and statements presented before the Hague Tribunal link Mladić to the preparation of the attack. In the war diary from a meeting held the day before the attack it was recorded that the 180th Brigade was to move an armoured battalion towards Škabrnja and Nadin, with the formulation “that it be wiped out”. A witness who was present at the meeting told the court that this task was issued by Ratko Mladić.
The attack began on the 18th of November at around 07:30 and was carried out from two directions. One column of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and infantry came via Zemunik Gornji, and the other from the direction of Biljane. The JNA used tanks, artillery and aircraft, while members of the Territorial Defence and other Serbian units advanced behind the armoured forces.
“if you withdraw, i’ll shoot you”
Marko Miljanić, the then commander of the defence of Škabrnja, testified before the Hague Tribunal about Mladić’s horrendous behaviour during the attack. Miljanić said that over an open radio channel he heard a conversation between Mladić and the commander of the forces attacking the village. According to his testimony, the commander reported that his ammunition supply had exploded and that he could not continue the attack. Mladić replied: “Continue the attack, you’ll get a reserve of ammunition. If you withdraw, I’ll shoot you.”
After breaking through the Croatian defence the attackers entered the village. Murders of civilians, the abuse of prisoners, looting and the systematic destruction of houses followed. Civilians, among them women, children and elderly people, were dragged out of basements and murdered in houses, courtyards and on the streets. Rape and sexual violence was also committed.
the use of human shields
Captured civilians and defenders were driven in front of tanks as human shields. More than a hundred civilians, mostly women and children, were captured and taken to Benkovac. Adult men were separated from the women and children, and some of them ended up in the Knin camps. According to official Croatian data, on the 18th of November, 43 civilians and 15 Croatian defenders were listed as having been killed in Škabrnja. The crimes continued during the occupation, and the place was looted, burned and almost completely destroyed. During the Homeland War a total of 56 Škabrnja civilians died, and 25 defenders from that place were also killed. After the war another six residents were killed by leftover mines.
why was Škabrnja not included in the hague tribunal?
In the case against Milan Martić, the Hague Tribunal established that units of the JNA, Territorial Defence and SAO Krajina police took part in the attack. Martić was sentenced to 35 years in prison for a wider series of crimes in Croatia, among which were the crimes in Škabrnja and Nadin. The infamous Slobodan Milošević was also indicted for the crimes committed in Škabrnja. His indictment stated that forces composed of the JNA, Territorial Defence and Martić’s police went from house to house murdering civilians. Milošević died before the end of the trial, so no verdict was ever formally delivered against him.
The crime in Škabrnja, however, was not covered by the indictment against the monstrous Ratko Mladić. His Hague case was limited to crimes committed across Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. There was no legal obstacle to trying him for crimes in Croatia as well. The Hague Tribunal had jurisdiction over them, as confirmed by the proceedings against Martić, Milošević and other accused persons. There is no publicly published official explanation of why the Hague prosecution did not include Škabrnja in Mladić’s indictment. When he was finally arrested back in 2011, the court was already implementing a completion strategy, and the case against him was further narrowed.
The number of individual crimes for which the prosecution intended to present evidence was reduced from 196 to 106, and the number of covered Bosnian-Herzegovinian municipalities from 23 to 15. Nor did the Croatian judiciary complete proceedings against Ratko Mladić for his role in the unimaginable horror that took place in Škabrnja.
The District Court in Šibenik had already sentenced him in absentia in 1992 to 20 years in prison for the attack on Kijevo and the areas of Sinj, Vrlika and Šibenik. Proceedings were also initiated against him for Peruča, the shelling of Zadar and other attacks. Documentation from the Croatian cases was forwarded to the Hague prosecution in 2002. However, in the DORH review of proceedings against Mladić published in 2017, Škabrnja is not formally mentioned.
most of those convicted never did their time
The frequently repeated claim that only one person was convicted for the crime in Škabrnja is also incorrect. The County Court in Zadar in 1995 convicted 18 people: sixteen to 20 years in prison each, one person to 15 years, and Jovan Badžoka to ten years. Most were tried in absentia. Badžoka served his ten-year sentence. Zoran Banić, initially convicted in absentia, after arrest in Switzerland and extradition to Croatia was granted the right to a retrial and was finally sentenced to six years in prison. In some retrials the original verdicts were later quashed and the accused acquitted for lack of evidence. Most of those convicted were never available to the Croatian judiciary nor served the sentences imposed, and numerous direct perpetrators and commanders remained unpunished.
the children growing up today are the greatest victory against this genocidal war criminal
After the news of Ratko Mladić’s death there was no celebration in Škabrnja. Danka Dražina, who was a nurse during the attack, told RTL Danas that she did not feel relief. Instead of Mladić, she said, she wants to think about the fallen comrades and innocent civilians. Dražina believes that “Croatian institutions failed”, especially Croatian politics and the judiciary, because Mladić was not prosecuted for Škabrnja. She said that the children growing up happily today in a free place are “the greatest victory” over the man whom the people of Škabrnja consider one of the main creators of the evil that cloaked their area back in 1991.
