Vukovar

Five people who had been missing since the 1991-95 war in Croatia were identified on Friday at the forensic department in the eastern town of Osijek.

Among those whose remains were identified was Croatian soldier Tomislav Balic, a member of Croatian Army's 204th Vukovar Brigade.

The Croatian State Attorney's Office in the city of Osijek said on Wednesday that it has indicted a former member of Serb paramilitary forces for involvement in the torture and murder of a minor after the occupation of the town of Vukovar in November 1991.

The unnamed suspect, a 70-year-old citizen of Croatia and Canada, is being held in custody due to the risk that he might flee.

Two Croatian human rights organisations criticised Croatia for the "slow processing of war crimes" in a statement to mark the European Day for Victims of Crime on Monday.

Croatian police said on Tuesday that they have charged an unnamed 62-year-old former Serb paramilitary with committing a war crime in the village of Petrovci in eastern Croatia in November 1991.

"On February 15, 2021, the police filed a criminal charge against the 62-year-old suspect at the relevant County State's Attorney's Office in Osijek," a police statement said.

Croatian police said on Wednesday that they have charged four unnamed Croatian citizens with committing war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war in Dalj, a village in eastern Croatia, some 20 kilometres from the wartime flashpoint town of Vukovar.

Belgrade Higher Court has awarded a total of around 1.8 million euros in compensation and refunds of legal costs to defendants who were acquitted of war crimes by the Serbian judiciary or had their charges dropped, documents obtained by BIRN show.

"The story, first and foremost, is told by women," declared Croatian dramatist Jelena Kovacic as she outlined the themes of the play 'The Hotel Tito', which opened earlier this month at Zagreb's Gavella Drama Theatre.

Thousands of people from all over Croatia gathered in Vukovar on Monday to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the town's fall after a devastating siege by Yugoslav People's Army troops and Serb paramilitaries.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that they had come to express their respect for those who defended the town.

The Croatian War Veterans Ministry said on Thursday that the remains of two people who it believes were victims of the 1990s war have been discovered in Negoslavci, a village in eastern Croatia.

The president of Croatian Constitutional Court, Miroslav Separovic, announced on Friday that the court had decided that the use of the Serbian language and Cyrillic script for official purposes in the Croatian town of Vukovar should be extended.