Dalj massacre

The Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija – JNA) confiscated Croatia's Territorial Defence (Teritorijalna obrana – TO) weapons to minimize the possibility of resistance following the elections.[1] On 17 August, the tensions escalated into an open revolt of the Croatian Serbs,[2] centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin,[3] parts of the Lika, Kordun, Banovina and eastern Croatia.[4] They established a Serbian National Council in July 1990 to coordinate opposition to Croatian President Franjo Tuđman's policy of pursuing independence for Croatia.The two men eventually became the political and military leaders of the SAO Krajina, a self-declared state incorporating the Serb-inhabited areas of Croatia.[5] In March 1991, the SAO Krajina authorities backed by the Serbian government started to consolidate control over Serb-populated areas of Croatia.By early May, the conflict also escalated in the region of eastern Slavonia, culminating in the Battle of Borovo Selo, just to the south of the village of Dalj.The JNA report on the events prepared for Croatian authorities denies that the JNA artillery took part in the bombardment, and indicates a somewhat later time of the initial fighting, placing it at 4:10 a.m.[10] Witness testimony given at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) trial of Slobodan Milošević supports the timeline placing the initial combat at 3:00 a.m.[11] After the artillery fire ceased, the Croatian Serb TO, supported by the Serb Volunteer Guard (SVG) led by Željko Ražnatović,[12] began an infantry assault of Dalj, organised in three groups, from its base in Borovo Selo.Both versions agree that the combat resumed until approximately 10 a.m.,[16] when three tank main gun rounds, fired by the JNA, hit the police station.[17] In a subsequent round of negotiations with Croatian authorities, the SAO SBWS representatives reported 56 or 57 Croats were killed in Dalj on 1 August.By late 1991, Germany presented its decision to recognize Croatia as its policy and duty, lobbying the European Economic Community (EEC) diplomats.A memorial to the 39 police officers, ZNG troops and civil defencemen killed in Dalj on 1 August 1991 was unveiled at the station on the 22nd anniversary of their death.[29] Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia in 1991, and Hadžić were charged by the ICTY for war crimes, including ordering of the murder, extermination, deportation and torture of non-Serbs in Dalj through the paramilitaries.