Zeljko Babic (71) from Surcin: Split Court Lifts Detention

A panel of the Split County Court has lifted the pretrial detention of Zeljko Babic (71), a native of the village of Mokro Polje near Knin, who is charged with a war crime against the civilian population committed in the Drnis area in 1992 and 1993. The documentation and information center Veritas announced today that Babic will now defend himself from freedom, barred from leaving Croatian territory and required to stay at his family home in his native village.

Sources differ on the exact date of the ruling. According to RTRS, the detention was lifted on September 22, while Veritas’s statement says the panel actually made the decision a day earlier, on September 21.

The case’s timeline spans more than a year. Babic was arrested in Croatia on July 1, 2025, and until then, according to Veritas, he had not appeared on any public list of prosecuted persons, having spent decades visiting his homeland every year without any legal trouble. The main trial before the Split County Court opened in April 2026. Prosecutors accuse Babic, in his capacity as head of the Criminal Investigation Department and commander of the Drnis Public Security Station, of failing to prevent crimes against Croatian civilians. He has denied all guilt since the proceedings began.

Babic has registered residence in Surcin. In its statement, Veritas noted that the ruling is an exception to established practice:

“This decision by the Split court represents a rare exception in the practice so far of prosecuting Serbs from the former RSK before the Croatian judiciary.”

The center explained the ruling against the backdrop of how Croatian courts have usually treated defendants registered in Serbia:

“Courts in Croatia, as a rule, keep in detention all defendants who hold citizenship and residence in the Republic of Serbia until the very end of proceedings, relying on the automatic argument of ‘risk of flight.’”

According to Veritas, the panel this time weighed Babic’s age and illness alongside the defense’s claim that he never hid or evaded the authorities, arguments that, the center says, left his prolonged detention, extended month after month, without proportionality. The center added that this may also suggest the evidence presented so far at the main trial has not confirmed the prosecution’s theory of Babic’s criminal responsibility.

On the defense itself, Veritas stated:

“Babic has completely denied guilt from the very beginning, pointing out that under the wartime circumstances of the time, every available legal measure was taken.”

Veritas said it will continue to closely follow the next phase of the proceedings, expecting that Babic’s defense from freedom will create fairer conditions for establishing the full truth.