by Viktor IVANCIC
The scene was preceded by a spectacular action of “the destruction of Chetniks [derogatory term for Serbs]” and “destruction of an enemy base” in Osijek, in Vatrogasno [fire brigade] district conducted by Branimir Glavas’ special fighting units. Once it was “discovered” that “Chetniks [were] digging tunnels towards the city” from the location in question and were planning numerous dastardly deeds, the marked house, in presence of journalists, was deluged by a rain of projectiles of different caliber over a morning, until it was literally flattened to the ground. The result was a bloody grotesque: in the cellar the attackers found the body of a killed seventy-years-old man, while a grenade blew to bits the right hand of his wife, a terrified housewife. The attackers failed to find any weaponry or even any traces of “Chetniks” in the house… After participating in the bombardment of two unarmed elderly civilians as a civilian volunteer the investigative magistrate had a chance to convince himself that much, when he, with a pointed handgun, demonstrated the rule of law on the spot.
Naturally, the very same evening, the primetime TV news reported that “the Croatian forces have successfully destroyed a Chetnik stronghold in the Vatrogasno district”. The report included dramatic shots of explosions and shooting taken from afar. The other “news sources” readily followed the example set by the state-controlled TV and verbatim reported conclusions from the Arambasic’s report. Only one photograph, with assistance of temporarily liberated media space, allowed a somewhat more indiscreet peek at the character of the rule of law in Croatia at the time, whose “hand of justice”, apart from being accessible, uses an uncocked firearm.
Eleven years later, a photograph shows judge Slavko Lozina, from the District Court in Split, the commander in chief in the trial for war crimes committed against civilians in the Lora prison. Unlike Arambasic, Lozina is not serious in the photo, nor is he tense, nor is he staring at ruins, nor does he hold a weapon in his hand; on the contrary, he is bursting with joy, in the box reserved for VIP guests, he sings, he dances and joyfully applauds at the stadium concert of Marko Perkovic Thompson, which was announced and organized as a party for the supporters of the extreme right in Croatia and started with the salute “Za dom spremni” [ready for the homeland, WWII Croatian equivalent of Nazi “Zieg heil”] that was greeted by a frenetic applause of the audience. Only a few meters away we can see the wives of the war crimes suspects in the Lora prison case. They are also dancing, singing and applauding. Thanks to Lozina, their husbands are currently at large. The wives may even hug Lozina, he may feel like hugging them as well, but that may be too much at this point.
The photo of the rule of law with Slavko Lozina in the foreground, if compared with the one in which Radoslav Arambasic plays the central role, reveals the fundamental difference between those two institutional creations. Arambasic’s rule of law was prepared to kill at any time, while Lozina’s rule of law is prepared to celebrate murders with song at any time. Arambasic’s rule of law served the regime that was criminal in its core, while the regime behind Lozina is criminal in its “common thread”.
(By the way, we also witnessed the transformation of the nature of the “free media” after eleven years of evolution. While in 1991 Slobodna Dalmacija denounced violent justice of the investigative magistrate, today the same newspaper – owned and controlled by the Croatian state – concludes its report from a concert that celebrated Ustashe ideology and the fascist Independent State of Croatia, NDH, in presence of the esteemed county court judge, as a VIP guest, with the following words: “Marko Perkovic, this is the image of the Croatian show business, and you are its God! Thompson and Croats!” Amen!)
The common thread that marks the regime behind Lozina as criminal based on the principle of objective responsibility, can be found in its self-castration, which is to a large extent deliberate. Thus, Slavko Lozina may end up being suspended and removed from the war crimes trial not because of the job he is (not) doing, but because of the way we spends his free time.
Although the request of the Supreme Court president Ivica Crnic that Lozina be disciplined if the investigation concludes that “he harmed the dignity of the court with his behavior (at the concert)” is justified, it appears ridiculous and somewhat cynical given that the judicial clown from Split from the very beginning led the trial in the Lora case – one of the most important in the country – in a scandalous and ignominious manner. Isn’t it true that the “dignity of the court” was harmed – sufficiently to warrant disciplinary measures – at the very first hearing when Lozina congratulated the Croatian national soccer team on their victories and wished them luck in their future “fights” under the Croatian flag, probably the way they “fought” in Lora?
A day after the concert, Minister of Justice Ingrid Anticevic-Marinovic requested from president of the County Court in Split Igor Benzon to investigate whether Lozina “had illegally dealt with submissions in the trial of defendants charged with war crimes in Lora”, and, in case the investigation confirms her suspicions, remove Lozina from the bench, although newspapers have been writing for months about “illegal dealing with submissions”, while the state prosecutor informed the minister about that in mid July. In the meantime, Lozina had inflicted all sorts of damage: he released suspects from custody, the decision that was reversed by the Supreme Court, but two suspects used the release to escape; he practically prevented the arrival of witnesses from Belgrade, and hid the documentation from Belgrade in his desk; he allowed most direct imaginable pressures on and intimidation of witnesses who live in Split, which resulted in temporary amnesia in most of them; he provided the sort of biased atmosphere in the courtroom that terrified civilized persons…
The purported formal-legal inability to remove Lozina from the trial in Lora case – which we are not competent to analyze – is obviously an excuse for the self-castrating reflex, namely, the lack of political and institutional will to do anything. Because, the political will has hitherto manifested itself in the following manner: Justice minister strongly supported re-election of Igor Benzon for the president of the county court, although he had turned the court into HDZ’s sty, responding to public shock by saying that “Benzon is a hardworking and capable judge”; Benzon then gave the most delicate case to Slavko Lozina, notorious as the worst judge in Split, blinded by ideology, which was immediately interpreted as the decision to acquit the suspected butchers from Lora of all charges.
Lozina only – with his clumsiness, stupidity, and arrogance – made the farce “transparent”, disturbing the idyll of judicial impotence, which now became uncomfortable, even though it was supposed to produce the same outcome. The circle thus mercilessly closed and it lacks – given the existing constellation of relations between the political will, widely accepted social values and “independent judiciary” - a way out, just like the circular edge of a circus tent has no end. The current rule of law is not violent like the one from Tudman’s era, inasmuch as it does not execute people, it merely celebrates executions. It is not murderous, merely necrophilic.
It should not be forgotten that Slavko Lozina “recommended” himself for the Lora case trial by losing a handgun, the key prosecution evidence, in another trial – that of Police special forces member Vinko Budisa, for murder of Milenko Dekic. That’s the handgun that Lozina does not have, while Radoslav Arambasic had it during his crime scene investigation. That seemingly absent weapon is the only – nonexistent! – evidence of their difference. No matter how hard Crnic and Anticevic try, there is very little sense in looking for a gun in Lozina’s hand. Now that he’s finished his job, he’s bursting with happiness.