Zagreb, June 10, 2023
War criminal Dario Kordić thirty years after the Ahmići massacre and the served prison sentence has no condolences for the victims.
According to the video that became available to the public today, war criminal Dario Kordić, when asked, "Was it worth the prison and the war?" replied: "I said, I would do it all over again. I wouldn't change a second. Every second was worth it."
In 2004, Dario Kordić was sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to 25 years in prison for war crimes and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions from 1949.
Among other things, this verdict confirmed that Croatia exercised overall control over the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) in the relevant period, that it was in charge of the planning, coordination, and organization of the HVO, and that there was an international armed conflict between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Appeals Chamber also upheld the Trial Chamber's conclusion that the attacks on Ahmići and other villages in the Lašva Valley were aimed at ethnic cleansing of the area for strategic reasons and that Dario Kordić planned and instigated the crimes that took place in Ahmići and the neighboring villages of Šantići, Pirići, and Nadioci.
Likewise, Kordić is the holder of the highest decorations of the Republic of Croatia, including the Order of Prince Branimir with a Necklace, the Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski, the Order of Ante Starčević, and the Homeland War Memorials.
In 2018, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights submitted an incentive to the office of President Grabar Kitarovic to take away the said medal. Without explanation, the competent commission rejected our incentive.
We demand that President Milanović on this occasion provide the victims of war crimes with support, public visibility, and recognition that war crimes were committed and that Kordić be stripped of his medals.