The following case is an example of a property dispute where the occupants of the flat have been illegally evicted by a military policeman. They have sought their rights through the civilian and military courts of Croatia and have received court decisions confirming their legal right to the flat. Two and a half years later, access to the flat has still not been regained.On Friday, 21 February 1997, local human rights activists from SDU, HHO and DOS accompanied by Otvorene Oci were present when the B. Family tried to legally evict the man occupying their flat. The eviction attempt of JD., a military policeman with the 72nd battalion, became menacing and ended without the B. Family regaining access.
JD had illegally evicted Mrs. B. from the former JNA flat on 2 February 1994. Following the eviction, she appealed to the civil and military courts and to the police.
The civilian court in Split decided in favour of Mrs. B. The military policeman was found guilty of trespassing even though he did not come to court. His legal eviction was arranged for May 1994. He did not answer his call to court for this either. It was believed that he was not in Split at this time.
On 12 October 1994, the military court found JD. guilty of illegally moving into the flat and illegally taking over the socially-owned property. Due to his clean criminal record and his contribution to the civil war, he was given a suspended sentence of four months imprisonment, which was not to be served as long as he did not commit another criminal act within one year.
At the time of the 1994 eviction, Mrs. B. was residing alone in the flat while her husband, a Muslim, was serving in the BiH Ministry of Defence; he could not leave Bosnia due to the blockade of Sarajevo. Mr. B. finally was able to return to Split in May 1994. The BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs intervened on behalf of Mr. B. confirming that he was indeed unable to leave Sarajevo during this time. Mr. B. also stated that during his stay in BiH, his activities in the BiH Ministry of Defence had been in co-operation with the HVO in Zenica.
While the family was expecting the court executor hearing on 1 February 1995 to acknowledge their rights to the apartment and to issue an eviction notice, they were actually informed that the Republic of Croatia had decided to pursue the 'Enemy Activity' Article 102a case which was first filed against them 29 July 1994 due to Mr. B.'s former service in the JNA.
During this time the couple visited the apartment almost everyday. They also contacted the commander of the 72nd Battalion whose lawyer informed them that the eviction court decision was not legal since JD was not present when it was handed down. Therefore, when JD found out about the decision, he had the right to appeal. Due to this, the public defender sought to delay the eviction of JD. until the enemy action case was decided.
The enemy action case was later proven unsuccessful, however it served to considerably delay the legal eviction case; the most recent legal eviction attempt of JD had been scheduled for October 1996, but was cancelled.
For this latest attempt the police did not arrive. After waiting 10 minutes the doctor and social worker (who must be present at a legal eviction) left despite Mr.B. offering to pay them for the extra time. Mr. B. called a second team of police to come. This legal eviction attempt had already cost the evicting party 1400 kuna, including 600 kuna to the authorities for the presence of police, doctor and social worker. In the event that the eviction is not successful or failure by the required authority to be present does not mean this money will be refunded.
After the doctor and social worker left, JD and several of his friends increased their taunting of the activists and neighbours by throwing more objects (skateboard, glass bottle) and water bombs over the balcony of the first floor apartment while shouting threats and singing nationalist songs. The two sons of the B. Family then came to usher the group out of range of the balcony.
The men from the balcony (about 5) who made it clear that they were a physical threat to anyone who intended to remain. They began to harass Mrs. B. and others walking slowly away. They grabbed the male member of OSCE by his jacket and demanded to know who he was. They grabbed the female translator of OSCE and took several files from her. The files were returned by the police the same day after OSCE filed an official complaint.
Only when the activists and OSCE were several hundred meters away, did JD and his friends stop their pursuit. Only then did the police arrive. When asked why the police had not come at the appointed time, they replied that they had not received the court notice.
Several court cases similar to that of the B. Family are due to finish in the next few months. So far, Otvorene Oci know of only one other case in which the original owner has had his apartment rights confirmed after being evicted. Still, his twelve legal attempts to regain access to his apartment have also been unsuccessful.
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