The Judicial Council of the County Court in Split, at yesterday’s main hearing, rendered a decision terminating the investigative detention of Željko Babić (71), who stands accused of war crimes against the civilian population in the Drniš area during 1992 and 1993. Babić left the prison in Split yesterday afternoon, where he was met by his son accompanied by their attorney, and he will defend himself from freedom during the remainder of the trial.
As a precautionary measure, the court imposed a ban on leaving the territory of the Republic of Croatia. During the proceedings, Babić will reside in his family home in his native village of Mokro Polje near Knin.
The Documentation and Information Center (DIC) “Veritas” points out that Željko Babić, whose registered residence is otherwise in Surčin (Serbia), was arrested on July 1, 2025, on the territory of Croatia. Prior to his arrest, his name did not appear on any public lists of prosecuted individuals, and over the last twenty years, he had spent several months each year in his homeland completely freely and without any obstacles.
The main hearing before the County Court in Split opened in April 2026. The Prosecution charges Babić with failing to prevent criminal offenses against civilians of Croatian nationality in his capacity as the head of the Criminal Investigation Department and chief of the Drniš Public Safety Station. From the very beginning, Babić has entirely denied his guilt, emphasizing that all available legal measures were taken under the wartime circumstances of that period.
This decision by the Split court represents a rare exception to the current practice of prosecuting Serbs from the former RSK before the Croatian judiciary. As a rule, courts in Croatia keep all defendants holding citizenship and residence in the Republic of Serbia in custody until the very end of the proceedings, automatically invoking the argument of a “flight risk.”
This time, in addition to his age and illness, the Council accepted the irrefutable facts presented by the defense that Babić had never hidden or evaded law enforcement agencies, meaning that the prolonged detention through consecutive two-month extensions had lost its proportionality and legal justification. This may also indicate that the presentation of evidence during the main hearing so far has failed to confirm the prosecution's thesis regarding his criminal responsibility.
“Veritas” will continue to closely monitor these proceedings in their next phase, expecting that allowing him to defend himself from freedom will provide fairer conditions for establishing the full truth.
Belgrade/Banja Luka, September 22, 2026
Information Service of DIC “Veritas”
