Case law update
| DOI | 10.1177/2032284417739381 |
| Published date | 01 December 2017 |
| Date | 01 December 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Updates |
Updates
Case law update: ECtHR
cases July to September 2017
Ben Wild
UN University for Peace in Costa Rica
Right to life
Obajdin v. Croatia (application no. 39468/13)
The applicants, Josip Obajdin and his father Pave Obajdin, are Croatian nationals who were born in
1983 and 1959, respectively, and live in Ludbreg and Slunj (Croatia). The case concerned the
investigation into the killing of the Obajdins’ close relatives, allegedly by Croatian soldiers during
the Croatian Homeland War. On 8 August 1995, Josip Obajdin’s mother and grandmother were
killed in their home in Veljun (in the region of Krajina) following a military operation, code named
‘Storm’, carried out by the Croatian authorities to regain control of the region from Serbian
paramilitary forces.
In January and February 2002, police conducted interviews of the applicants and military units
stationed in the area at the time of the deaths. Josip Obajdin stated in particular that his mother and
grandmother had been killed by the Croatian army when refusing to hand over the keys to their car;
Pave Obajdin had learnt about the killing of his wife and her mother from his son. The police
continued interviews in October 2006 and January 2007 and then, in February 2007, filed a
criminal complaint with the State Attorney’s Office against unknown perpetrators in connection
with the deaths. The applicants were interviewed again in October 2012 by a Deputy State
Attorney and repeated their previous statements. From then on until October 2015, the police and
prosecutors obtained information about the Croatian army units which had been in Veljun just after
the military operation, the identity of their commanders and all their members and took statements
from the members of these units. None of them, however, had any information about those who
were responsible for the killings.
Relying on Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the applicants
complained that the authorities had not taken adequate steps to investigate the death of their family
members and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Outcome
No violation of Article 2
Mardosai v. Lithuania (no. 42434/15)
The applicants, Vygandas Mardosas and Vaida Mardosien _
e, husband and wife, are Lithuanian
nationals who were born in 1971 and 1981, respectively, and live in Jurbarkas (Lithuania). The
New Journal of European Criminal Law
2017, Vol. 8(4) 551–565
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/2032284417739381
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