# Dušan the Mighty (paramilitary)

Dušan the Mighty (Serbian: Душан Силни, Dušan Silni) was a Serbian paramilitary force that was active in the Croatian War of Independence in 1991. It was the armed wing of the Serbian National Renewal political party, led by Mirko Jović. The unit cooperated with the White Eagles and Serbian Chetnik Movement paramilitary groups and with Serbian Army of Krajina. It was present in the Battle of Borovo Selo, where twelve Croatian policemen were killed, and the Lovas killings, where members of Dušan the Mighty force and Yugoslav People's Army killed 70 civilians. Due to their involvement in Lovas, its members were later charged with war crimes by the Serbian Public Prosecutor's Office for War Crimes.

## History

Dušan the Mighty paramilitary force was created by members of the Serbian National Renewal (SNO) political party, which was led by Mirko Jović. The paramilitary was active in the Slavonia region during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991, where it cooperated with the White Eagles paramilitary unit and the Serbian Army of Krajina. The unit was armed and controlled by the State Security Directorate of Serbia. It has been described as a nationalist paramilitary.
The paramilitary was first active in the Battle of Borovo Selo in May 1991. In the predominantly Serb settlement, they were also joined by the Serbian Chetnik Movement, the paramilitary unit of the Serbian Radical Party, who were invited by local militia commander Vukašin Šoškoćanin. On 1 May 1991, Croatian policemen entered Borovo Selo in an unauthorised attempt to replace the flag of Yugoslavia in the village with a flag of Croatia. This resulted in an armed clash, in which twelve Croatian policemen were killed by Serb paramilitaries. The fighting lasted until the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) intervened on 2 May.
In October 1991, Dušan the Mighty paramilitary was stationed in Lovas. It entered the village on 10 October with the help of JNA. There, Ljuban Devetak, a member of the Dušan the Mighty paramilitary, was styled as the commander of the village. Together, they looted and burnt houses and tortured civilians. They also staged the Lovas killings, in which 70 civilians were murdered in October and November 1991. In the aftermath of the killings, over 1,341 civilians were forced to leave Lovas, a Roman Catholic church was burnt down, and 261 houses were destroyed by paramilitary forces and JNA.
In November 1991, a peace plan was negotiated between Serbia and Croatia to implement a ceasefire and withdraw JNA forces from Croatia. During the negotiations, SNO decided to back Milan Babić, the president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, who opposed the agreement and accused Serbian president Slobodan Milošević of betrayal. Due to their resistance to complying with the plan, the State Security Directorate stopped its support for SNO.

## Trial

Due to their involvement in the Lovas killings, six members of the paramilitary unit were indicted for war crimes in 2008 by the Serbian Public Prosecutor's Office for War Crimes. In 2012, they were found guilty of war crimes, and with eight others, they were sentenced to a total of 128 years in prison. JNA officers that participated in the Lovas killings were not prosecuted. The Appellate Court, however, annulled the verdict in 2014, and the case was sent to retrial. In 2018, the trial began again, and it concluded in June 2019, when the Public Prosecutor's Office found eight men guilty of war crimes. The Humanitarian Law Center criticised the second trial for not including JNA officers. The Appellate Court cut the sentences of six men and acquitted two in 2021.