Petrinja

The Croatian Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it has confirmed the verdict sentencing Pero Jekic, a former member of a Serb paramilitary unit, to eight years in prison for war crimes against civilians.

Jekic committed the crime in July 1991, when members of Serb paramilitary units entered Hrvatski Cuntic, a village in central Croatia near the town of Petrinja.

Zagreb county court on Monday acquitted Dragan Cavic, a former paramilitary from the Republic of Serbian Krajina, an unrecognised wartime Croatian Serb-led statelet, of committing war crimes against civilians in the Petrinja area in July 1993.

Zagreb County Court on Monday acquitted former Serb fighter Slobodan Mutic of killing two Croatian civilians, Stjepan and Paula Cindric, during the war in 1992 in the town of Petrinja.

Another former Serb fighter, Dragan Perencevic, who was tried in absentia for the same crime, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The Croatian Veterans' Affairs Ministry and local authorities in the towns of Daruvar, Petrinja, Sinj and Sibenik signed agreements on Monday to set up new centres for people who fought in the 1991-95 war.

The centres in the four towns will provide care and assistance, basic physical rehabilitation and sporting, recreational and educational activities for Croatian veterans.

Croatia's Serbian National Council, SNV, and the Serbian cultural association "Prosvjeta" - joint organisers of the Ojkaca Singing Festival in the town of Petrinja, due on August 25, have written on Wednesday to UNESCO's Cultural Heritage Protection Committee, accusing Croatian veteran organisations of trying to prevent the event.

Croatian journalist Marijo Skirnjar, who works for a local Zg-Magazin news site, has not been seen for more than a week, Croatian media, and many of her colleagues via social networks, are reporting.

According to the national record of missing persons, Skrinjar was last seen on June 26, boarding a train from the central town of Kutina to the capital, Zagreb.

Known for his use of the Croatian WWII fascist Ustasa slogan 'Za dom spremni' ('Ready for the Home(land)') in his famous 1991 wartime song 'Cavoglave', Thompson and his concerts are banned across Europe.

During the concert, Kosic - clad in a brown leather jacket - recited verses from Thompson's song 'Maranatha', while the band provided accompaniment.